A Minecraft Mod
by Void of Shining Darkness
Summary: Max has become bitter from the betrayal of All, and now avoids almost everything to do with It. But when a man appears on her doorstep, and strange creatures start showing up, she'll have to travel to the End to find out what the Nether is going on. (Sequel to 'A Minecraft Possession')
1. Isolation

_**Are you still giving me the silent treatment?**_ All's Minecrafter form gazed at Max mournfully.

Max nodded and dug her axe deeper into the tree. _You bet your Nether ugly face I am! You don't lie to someone about a insane Goddess who's supposedly trying to kill them!_ She thought silently.

The voices Max heard four years ago, when Ender was still alive, was actually All. Just different personalities. She hadn't spoken to It since. Because, really. You can't expect to tell someone that someone was evil (still debatable), and get away with it. Max knew she could be overreacting, but All used to be the only one she could trust, the only one who she could expect the truth from.

Max finished collecting wood from the tree, and moved to the next. She needed the planks to make Wither a lower level on her tree-house. He didn't like how high up her main floor was.

 _ **You can't ignore me forever, my Akroatis.**_ Max simply glared at All's apparition with a look that said 'Yes, I can'.

 _ **Max, you know four years is too long to hold a grudge.**_

Max felt herself snap. _"How would you feel if every word I told you was a lie?!"_

 _ **Max, calm down.** _ The unwilling Akroatis was attacked by the relief that Max could still hear It, even though she purposely ignored It.

 _"No! Just because you've always had your way when things get tough, doesn't mean I have to listen to a flaming word you say!"_ Max almost broke her axe on the next swing.

 _ **Max, Ender was upset with me. You know that. She was exaggerating.**_ All moved forwards to touch Max's arm in a comforting way.

Max quickly yanked her axe out of the wood, and held it in a threatening manner. _"Don't touch me."_ She spoke softly. Willing All with her eyes to burn in the sun, just like the zombies. _"Was She exaggerating about you torturing Her?"_

All hesitated for a moment. _**How come you believe Her? You know She was insane.**_

 _"I also know you just changed the subject."_ Max pushed past All roughly and headed in the general direction of her home.

 _ **Why are you talking to me?**_ All asked softly.

 _The only thing It doesn't know._ Max thought, a bit smug. Then she shook her head. "I just can't take it anymore. Now leave me alone or Your head is coming off."

 ** _You know that wouldn't work as well as you would hope, Max._** All said. But It faded away nonetheless.

Max sighed in relief. Then smacked herself in the face. How could she have responded to All? She had been so angry. Why did All have to nag her when she was tired and hungry from chopping down trees for a week?

 _Because It's manipulative._

"You leave me alone, too." Max glared at the air.

 _Oh, She speaks! The mighty Max has bent down low enough to speak to me!_

"All, stop it." Max found this form of All the most annoying. But then again, It was kind of It's job to be annoying. It _was_ evil after all.

 _Why? So you can ignore all my genius ideas of taking revenge?_

"Yes." She said blankly.

 _Fine. You're no fun._

"Exactly." If she couldn't ignore All, she would become as boring as a rock until It left her alone. She walked down the dirt path, planting saplings as she went. The fact that trees had been so scarce in the beginning because of Minecrafters, never left her mind when she murdered the leafy wood.

* * *

"Wither! Stop hogging the couch!" Max called out once she reached the top of her tree house. She and the God had become close over the years. When Max isolated herself, He stuck around, no matter how many pots she threw at Him. Then He got her talking, she opened up to Him. Told Him about her past, her hatred of bleeding, her odd love of tea. He was the only one she told those things. Only All knew her better, but It had just known this stuff, she had to tell Wither, actually talk. He, in turn, allowed her to use Him a lab rat of sorts, she would make things like cannons and non-land damaging TNT and try them out on Him. But she also cooked because she wasn't that cruel, and the end result was food, which both Wither and Max enjoyed immensely.

 _"I'm not on the couch!"_ Wither yelled back. _"Why do you always think that?"_

"Because you're always on it! It's turned from blue to grey somehow! Actually, how'd you do that?" Max went looking for her friend.

 _ _"Magic! Ahhh!"_ _ He jumped when He turned around and she was right in front of Him. __"Don't do that!"__

"Why? Because you're a creeper?"

 _"I am not afraid of everything! You just startled me, that's all."_

"Uh-huh. Right. What are you doing?" Max tried to peer around Him to see, but He quickly stepped in front of it, blocking her view.

 _"No! Don't look! You'll spoil the surprise!"_ At Max's confused look, He added, _"Your birthday. Did you forget?"_

Yes. She had forgotten completely that she would turn twenty-one in a week. She nodded sheepishly.

Wither sighed, then pushed her out of His room. _"You've been working too hard again. You really need to learn your limit."_

"I know exactly where my limit is." Max retorted. "You should have your own level in about a week if you stop nagging me about taking breaks. Besides, my mind is just on other things." Wither closed the door behind Him. Her tree-house hadn't changed much. Her farm was more efficient, Wither had a place to stay, and a previously blue couch had been added to the dining area.

 _"If I didn't 'nag' you, you would have worked yourself to death by now!"_ He continued pushing her to her room.

"I wouldn't have to work so much if you helped."

 _"That's just hurtful."_ He mock pouted. _"How about this, I'll cook until you're finished building."_

"Please no, With. You know you're the worst cook ever." Max glanced at her kitchen, which He had managed to almost burn down while making tea.

Wither also looked at the burn marks. _"Point taken."_

* * *

 **Just a filler chapter of sorts, explaining what has happened. Does anyone else find it slightly strange that I always skip a couple of years? Meh.**

 **I need inspiration for a cover. Anybody have an idea?**

 **So for anyone who doesn't understand: Max has isolated herself from All, but to do that she needs to isolate herself from everything. Wither was stubborn and wouldn't go away, so she just let Him stay, and they became close friends.**

 **I hope you enjoyed!**


	2. Trip

Max swung her axe at the tree. She had miscalculated the amount of wood she required for Wither's new home, and needed more. "Why can't He do this?" She muttered in annoyance. But she knew He couldn't, He had an odd fear of sharp objects and would most likely cut His foot off with the iron tool.

Her axe cut through the wood, and the tree fell, almost squishing Max. She jumped back in surprise. What was this? Trees didn't cut themselves down, you had to chop at every block. At least, you're supposed to.

Max stepped closer to the logs cautiously. There was nothing wrong with them, they were perfectly normal oak logs. But why did they break by themselves? Some form of unheard of magic? One of Wither's pranks? Max shook her head and grabbed the wood; magic or not, they could still be useful.

 _Swoosh!_ Her axe cut through air as she swung at the next tree.

She jumped back again when the tree screamed. It swung around and she saw a face covered in pain-filled rage. A branch went soaring towards her head. She crashed to the ground. "The Nether-?!" She managed to yell with a mouth full of dirt.

When sentient tree attempted to smash her into the ground, she rolled away from the angered swing. She snatched up her fallen axe, and when the tree attacked again, lodged her tool into the wood. It gave another scream.

Max used the time it took for it to regain its bearings to chop at the face. It recoiled and yelled more, but Max didn't end her attack. Only once the face could no more be recognized as such, and it stopped moving; did she relent.

 _ **What was that?**_ All materialized on top of the tree's corpse. It studied the creature intently.

"I don't know. Go away."

 ** _As you wish._** It disappeared in a small puff of smoke. Max was slightly surprised It left so readily, but then again, It probably didn't want to annoy her any more than It already had.

She looked at the creature, then walked away. It was- used to be a living being, it would be disgraceful to collect its remains for her home. And she didn't know if there were more of the living trees around, she did not wish to risk being attack by another one without a real weapon.

* * *

Max carefully navigated her way through the skeleton of the unfinished floor. One wrong step and she could fall, she wasn't scared though, she had done this many times. She reached the stairway that led to her home and began to climb.

 _"Close your eyes!"_ Wither yelled when He heard her footsteps.

"No!"

 _"Then you won't get presents!"_

"It's not even my- whoa." Wither had covered the area in colourful string. String on the chairs. String in the farm. String on the huts. String _everywhere._ "What?"

 _"Happy early birthday! Have some cake!"_ He shoved a plate filled with the delicious treat into her hands, then rushed off.

"What?" Max repeated.

 _"Well, we never do anything special for your birthday, and you only ever leave this tree to get resources, so we're going exploring! Then we're going to come back on your actual birthday, and have a party!"_ He seemed so excited, Max didn't want to go on the trip, but she'd go anyway, if only to keep Him from being disappointed.

"Then why the decorations if we're leaving?"

 _"So we don't have to do it when we get back, duh."_ He tossed a bag at her. She dropped the plate of half eaten cake to catch it. _"Let's go!"_

"Wait, now?" Max just wanted to finish constructing His floor, relax for a few months, then get back to work.

 _"Yep! Well, I guess we can stay for a few minutes."_ He looked dejected at the thought.

"That would be preferable." Max dropped the bag, grabbed the spilled plate of cake of the floor, then went inside. She quickly washed the dish, and looked around for anything Wither might have forgotten to pack. She snatched up a couple of apples, knowing that they would be rotten by the time they returned.

"With," She said when He followed her. "Fruit and veggies rot over time, help me find any you left behind." Wither nodded, still a bit upset. He broke Into smaller versions of Himself. Each Wither ran towards a chest, and threw it open. "I still have no idea how you never get insanely dizzy when you do that." She leaned against the doorway, knowing the Withers would find everything in a minute, and that she would only get in the way.

 _"It just"_ One of the Withers said running passed her.

 _"takes a bit"_ Another called, carrying a tiny bag of potatoes.

 _"of concentration."_ A third told her.

"Yeah, yeah. You and your Godly powers of epicness." Max smiled and shook her head. She pushed off the doorway and grabbed the bag she dropped when washing the plate as He pulled Himself together.

 _"Definitely epic."_ Wither agreed and walked over to a small stack of bags.

Max went to help, but He shouted before she could pick anything up. _"Nope! It's almost your birthday, let me carry everything! No, Max,"_ He added quickly, seeing her face of protest. _"letting me carry everything on your birthday trip does not make you weak."_

Max glared at Him for a moment, then sighed and followed Him down the stairs. He stumbled a bit on the construction, but quickly righted Himself. At the vines He gulped, trying to figure out how to get down without falling on His face. After a few minutes, He gave up and jumped down, landing, as predicted, on His face. _"Ouch."_ He groaned. _"Hey!"_ He yelled when Max kicked Him, though not hard enough to bruise.

"There was a pulley, With. Next time, look before you leap." She grabbed His arm and hauled Him to His feet.

 _"Heh, oops."_ He rubbed the back of His neck in embarrassment.

"Which way are we going?" She pulled her bag higher on her shoulder.

 _"How about... That way!"_ He pointed in a random direction.

"Okay, let's go." She started to walk, but stopped when her friend suddenly yelled.

 _"Wait! I have to use the bathroom."_

Max stared at Him for a second, then sat down on one of her tree's roots as He rushed behind a bush.

* * *

 **Mob: Ent (from Mo' Creatures)**

 **I have no excuses as to why this took so long. I was just extremely lazy. But Max and Wither are going on a trip! Yay!**

 **I still need a cover idea. My mind is blank.**

 **Why do you people think a tree became sentient and attacked Max? Of course I already know, but I want to know what you think! Is Wither playing a prank? Has one of the Two gone insane? Does All somehow have something to do with it? It might be one of these things, or I could have left it out completely! Muahaha!**

ThatRandomMooshroom:

 **I understand, hope you had fun! Yes, yes it is. It does care about her, but has the worst way of showing it. Nooooooo! I have everything planned except the cover. :( (Me too. :D)**

 **Thank you DarkWolf133 and eggers for favouriting and following.**

 **Thank you ThatRandomMooshroom for following.**


	3. Shark

"Nope. Nuh-uh. No way, not going to happen." Max folded her arms and scowled at Wither, whom was currently floating in a lake.

 _"Come on! The water is great! Not too cold!"_ He attempted to coax her.

"I don't have a bathing suit, With."

 _"Who said you needed a bathing suit?"_ He suddenly lunged out of the water, grabbed her ankle, and tugged.

Max snatched onto a low hanging branch of a nearby tree. "No!" She kicked her feet frantically as Wither began to tickle her.

 _"Gasp! The queen of stone is ticklish! What a pleasant surprise!"_ His fingers danced across her feet, making her squirm even more when He tickled her ankle.

"Stop!" Max kicked her feet more as she laughed.

 _"Not until you let go of that tree!"_ He tugged on her feet. She tried to pull herself closer to the branch, but didn't go far as Wither pulled more.

An idea popped into her head. "Fine." She grinned, and let go. Wither hadn't expected that, so when she released the branch, she went flying towards Him.

 _"Oww!"_ He yelled when her foot hit His nose.

"Cold, cold cold cold." Max jumped up and down, fruitlessly attempting to escape the freezing grasp of the lake.

 _"Stop being such_ _a baby. It's not that bad."_

"Really? Is this-" she grabbed His shoulders and pushed downwards, then quickly released. "-not that bad?"

He sputtered once He breached the surface of the water. _"You'll regret that."_ He promised, but it was hard to feel intimidated with the large grin on His face.

Max splashed Him. He splashed back. Then an all out war broke out. Until something landed on Max's face. "Ahh! Get it off!" She tugged at it. It easily fell into her hands.

 _"What's that?"_ Wither cautiously poked it.

"I don't know." Max frowned. "It definitely isn't a squid."

 _"Squid?"_ He asked.

"Squids," She replied, seeming to become lost in thought. "were, contrary to popular belief, the first animal. That's why they pretty much just float around. The Two hadn't figured out how to give their creations purposes yet."

 _"How do you know this?"_ She glared at Him. _"Universe in your head. Got it."_

The fleshy creature in Max's hands flopped, she dropped it in surprise. It began to swim around them, but quickly rushed off when large ripples appeared ten blocks away.

"I think we should get out of the water." The ripples closed in on them as Max backed away. Wither, however, stood His ground.

 _"Don't worry, Max. It's probably the other thing's parent coming to make sure we didn't eat it. I'm sure it must be quite friendly."_ Wither tried to reassure her.

"Or it wants to ea- Wither, look out!" Max had reached the shore, but rushed back into the water when the cause of the ripples surfaced and attempted to feast on her friend. If He didn't have His Godly reflexes, half of Him would of been screaming in pain as He was chewed.

 _"Not friendly! In no way is that thing friendly!"_ He ran from the water, grabbing Max's arm as he flew past her, dragging her out of the water with Him.

The large creature stared at them with its small beady black eyes, then slipped back underneath the blue sheen of the water.

Over on the bank, just within the tree line, stood a figure. It watched as the close friends scrambled out of the water. As the creature that It knew as a Shark chased the young God, with great effort, the figure pushed the water against the shark.

The Akroatis cared for the grey-skinned God, which meant All had to keep Him safe. Even if He was one of Its least favourite children.

All leaned against the nearest tree, cursing Itself for putting limitations on the almost physical form. But there was a chance -however small that was- that the discomfort would make Max more comfortable It.

 _ **I know you're there.**_ It panted from the extertion of commanding such a small part of Itself without destroying anything. Max wouldn't like It if that happened. _ **I know you're watching. But I don't want you here. Leave.**_

Max looked at the place the embodiment of the Universe had resided only seconds before, when she thought she heard It speak.

 _"Are you okay?"_ Wither looked over her for any new scrapes and bruises.

"Yea-Yeah. I just thought... Nevermind. My brain is playing tricks on me again." She shook head. She could have sworn that All was right there.

 _I am right here, idiot._

"Not you." Max frowned at the air.

 _"Are you sure you're okay, Max? I cou-"_

"I'm fine, With. Just talking to another voice inside my head."

* * *

 **Do you ever have such a strong urge to write that you can't just stop? I had that, for another horror story called 'Dark' and, instead of writing I was reading amazing webcomics.**

 **I have a poll on my profile that pertains to this fic. So please go vote on that.**

 **Oh, and I have a cover! ThatRandomMooshroom unintentionally gave me the idea, thanks for that! I will still take cover suggestions though. (1 Because I need drawing practice. (2 I want to know your ideas.**

Raven Lavigne:

 **Thank makes me happy. I so glad that it worked out like that and it (hopefully) doesn't feel like I'm dragging things on. I will keep going, trust me. I've come too far to stop now.**

 **Thank you Raven Lavigne for following.**


	4. Snow

Wither looked at Max in concern. _"Are you sure you're okay? I mean, we could go back if you want."_

"No. I'm fine. I promise." She smiled at Him. "What was that thing?"

 _"I don't know. It wasn't created by the Two, or All."_ He wrung out His wet shirt.

"Huh? How would you know?"

 _"Everything has a signature on it. Like a certain colour that pertains to the being that created it. All's colour is a mix, green, black, and red. Notch's is just black. Herobrine's is white. And Ender's was purple. I suppose mine would be grey."_

"That's weird. What's it like to see the colours?" Max asked curiously as they began to walk in a random direction, still completely soaked.

 _"It's not weird for me. I've always seen them. And I'll tell you what it's like if you tell me what it's like being an Akroatis."_ Wither replied.

"I...er. I can't." Max frowned.

 _"Exactly. And if you want to know what's really weird; you have no colour."_ He caught Max when she stumbled on a uneven part of the ground. _"Carefull. I mean, you have the faint white and black that all Minecrafters have, but even less so. And All's colours are entirely absent."_

"Why would I have Its signature?" Max stood up now that she had recovered her bearings.

 _"Everything has Its signature. It is everything. And signatures travel with in each generation. So if a slime and a magma slime procreated, their child would have the colours of both Ender and Herobrine. All the Gods have All's colours, seeing as we are Its children. So everything we then create, has Its signature."_ Wither explained.

Max thought for a moment. "Well, maybe it's not that Its colours go from generation to generation, because wouldn't it fade with time? I'm thinking that it's because It inhabits everything. If you remember, Ender said It becomes something as soon as the thing is created. She also said that It made Akroatises by not inhabiting them."

 _"Your point?"_ He prompted.

"Perhaps Its signature somehow amplifies the Twos. And with It not inhabiting me," Max shuddered."the signature isn't as strong." A wave of satisfaction washed over her, letting her know that she got it right. "Stop doing that!"

 _"Stop what?"_ Wither looked at her confused, then tripped because He wasn't paying attention to where He was going.

"Not you." She held out her hand to pull the God back up onto His feet.

 _I will never stop. Not even if you wanted Me to. You're stuck with Me_ forever. All said with glee.

"Unless I die." Max replied. Wither shot her a look, being unused to her speaking with All. A feeling of dread came from everywhere around her.

 _If you die I will tear off your boyfriend's skin and shove Him into the void, where He will suffer for all eternity._ It threatend. _Speaking of your boyfriend, why do you speak out loud? You're confusing Him._

Max wasn't sure how to respond to the universe calling Wither her boyfriend, she especially didn't know how to react It's threat, so she answered the one that she knew how to address. "I refuse to honour you with silently speaking. I'd much rather prefer to humiliate you by talking."

Wither's face took on a 'ahh, she's talking to the voices in her head. Better leave her alone" look. He stopped worriedly watching her, and kept His eyes on the narrow path through the greenery to make sure He wouldn't trip again.

 _Feisty one, aren't ya? I love it when the Akroatis fights back. Granted, you're the first one to do that. But I like it. And you're embarrassing yourself more than I. No matter, do what you_ _will._ Max felt It suddenly become alarmed. _Stop!_

Max stopped in surprise at the shout, and grabbed her head at the small pain the yell had caused. She looked up again at another shout, but this one was more surprise than alarm. "Wither?" He wasn't there.

 _"Down here._ " His muffled voice called. Max looked down and saw the edge of a cliff. All had warned Max, but not Wither, so He had fallen. Luckily, He landed on a pile of snow, which He now seemed to be stuck in.

 _You're welcome._ All said smugly.

Max ignored it and called, "Wither! Are you okay?"

 _He's fine. Begining to freeze, but fine._

 _"I am really cold."_ Wither squirmed, attempting, and failing, to free Himself.

"I don't see a way dow-" Max was cut off by some of the snow in the taiga biome raising into the air and forming into a staircase.

 _Don't say I never do anything for you._ All said as Max cautiously put her foot onto the snow to make sure it would hold her weight. _What's taking so long? Don't worry, I made sure it could hold even your weight, fatty._

"If you had a head, I would rip it off." Max growled, hoping that evil part of the universe would shut up within the next two years.

 _You're lucky I like you, mortal._ All said this as though It wasn't at all bothered by her comment. But Max could hear the hint of malice in Its voice.

Once Max reached the bottom of the staircase, she realized she could hear muffled yelling, and that Wither hadn't said anything while she decended the the snow. "Wither! All, get it off Him!"

 _Nope. Ask nicely. Without using your mouth._

"All." Max had been joking earlier, she didn't want to be that violent, but if All had a head, she would tear it off and feed it to the creature that had attacked them.

She really didn't want All to win, but Wither's yells were becoming more and more panicked. _Fine. Please release Wither from the snow._ Max seethed.

 _As you wish, Akroatis._ The smug voice said as the snow flew into the air and began to fall again, but much gentler than it had going up.

Wither lay where the snow had been seconds before, shivering. Max grabbed Him by the arm, and dragged Him to a small alcove in the cliff face. She quickly lit a fire, and put Wither right next to it, almost turning Him into a human torch.

* * *

 **You know that urge to write I talked about last chapter? I got that today, or yesterday if I post this tomorrow, which would be today? I just confused myself. Love it when that happens. I was tempted to have Max sing a parody of 'Let it go', ("Let Him go! Let Him go! Free Him from the snow!") But realized that would annoy even me if I chose to edit this again.**

 **Please go vote on the poll, I really need to know if my OCs are unbearable and I need to change them.**

 **There are no reviews to reply to. But I guess that's what I get for posting the last chapter at about 10 pm.**


	5. Man

Max blinked her eyes sleepily, she had been up all night making sure Wither wouldn't burn or freeze to death. Well, not die, but it wouldn't be very comfortable to have half of His face missing.

The before mentioned God stretched in His sleep, His hand went towards the dwindling flames, but Max grabbed it and placed it back by His side.

She blinked again, her eyes staying closed a few seconds longer then they had to be. She so wished to join Wither in the land of dreams, but then He could seriously burn Himself in His slumber. And that wouldn't -she yawned- be good. She shook her head in an attempt to wake herself up, then placed another log on the fire.

She felt warmth envelope her, and heard a soothing voice say:

 _ **Sleep, child. Rest your eyes. No harm shall come to either of you. Sleep.**_

Max was sure she should recognize that voice. That she should feel something about it, but she couldn't, she was too tired. The world went dark for a moment. She snapped her eyes open once she realized they had shut, she had to stay awake for Wither, if He burnt Himself, that would mean they would need to stay in the small alcove much longer than the day that it would take for Max to rest. She did not wish to remain in the taiga biome any longer than she had to.

Her eyes began to hurt, but she refrained from blinking, knowing that if she did, her eyes may not open again.

 ** _Sleep._** The familer voice repeated.

"N-no." Max mumbled. How could she be so sleepy when she was so cold and uncomfortable? She tried to pull her small blanket around herself to cover more of her exposed skin, but the blanket was made to keep the cool wind of the jungle at bay; not warm her whilst she was surrounded by snow. She scooted closer to the warm flames as she cursed herself for not thinking they would stumble upon the cold snowy forest.

 ** _Sleep._** The voice said this in a more commanding tone.

"I -but... Wither." Max muttered. Her eyelids felt heavy.

 ** _He shall not be harmed, Akroatis_**

Max finally recognized the voice belonged to All, but she couldn't bring herself to care, lack of rest was affecting her ability to think. She gave up, lay in between the two heat sources, and surrendered herself to the land of dreams.

* * *

 _Thud!_

Max jolted awake at the loud noise. She looked to her side to see if Wither had awoken and somehow made the strange sound. He hadn't, He was still fast asleep by her side.

She reached for Kreaya, but realized she had left it back at her treehouse. "All," She whispered. "sword please." She hated that she had to ask for help, but she had so idioticly not grabbed another weapon, figuring that she would be safe with the God around.

There was no _Clang!_ of the sword hitting the stone ground, there was no voice saying how to defeat whatever was outside the the alcove. Nothing. All had abandoned her.

"Wither!" She violently shook her friend in the hopes He would wake. But no, He just shrugged her off and rolled over. "All!" Again, no answer.

Max growled. Of course All would leave just when she actually needed It! But it did fit in with her luck just nicely, having nothing to defend herself when a mob might attack her, all the while a God slumbers a block away, unaware of her flesh being ripped off her bones and shoved into a zombie's gaping maw.

She grabbed a stick, stuck a piece of coal on top, and put the end with the black dust into the fire. It quickly ignited. It wasn't much, but a torch would be better than nothing.

She cautiously walked over to the entrance of the alcove, and peered outside at the white beyond. She marvelled that a forest and taiga could be right next to each other without greatly affecting the climate in either one. Nothing stirred.

Feeling slightly reassured, Max stepped away from the warmth of the enclosed space, out into the cold and bitter wind. Her torch flickered wildly, and she held it closer to herself. in an attempt to shield it from the moving air.

Just as she was about to re-enter the alcove, she heard a noise. She probably wouldn't have heard it if not for her being an Akroatis. She listened intently, there it was again, a soft groan. It definitely wasn't a zombie, it wasn't the mindless groan of hunger that they made; this noise was one of pain and discomfort, one that only a Minecrafter could make.

She slowly spun on the spot, studying the unmarked snow for movement. When nothing stirred as the Minecrafter groaned again, she gave up. She turned and listened, trying to pinpoint where the noise originated. She faced the taiga, and spun to look at the disturbed snow where Wither had been buried. She walked forwards, holding the small flame close, trying to keep from freezing her fingers off.

She spotted a shock of blonde hair once she was five blocks away. "Hello?" She readied her torch. The unknown Minecrafter shifted in reply.

Max cautiously poked the Minecrafter with her foot, when all she got was a muffled moan of pain, she rolled them over. He -for it was a he- seemed to of fallen unconscious. She didn't trust it though, he couldn't be that wounded, she saw no trace of blood. She grabbed him by the arm, propped him against the snow to get a better angle, and hit him over the head with the stick part of her torch. If he wasn't truly unconscious before, he was now.

She shivered as she dragged him to the alcove, it really wasn't smart of her to not own a shirt warmer than a sweater. But it hadn't gotten very cold in the jungle, so she hadn't felt the need. When she got back she would definitely get a lot of things she felt she didn't need, maybe a health potion if she managed to find a witch. But that was unlikely, witches were extremely rare.

She leaned the man up against the far wall of the alcove and tied him up with some random string she found in a bag. Why Wither thought they would need it was beyond her. But at least it turned out to be useful.

* * *

 **I did it! I figured out the secret of writing! Now go read 'Hero's Bane' by BlackDragon41. If you don't remember, Ninjagorulz introduced me to her awesome work a while ago when 'A Minecraft History' came out. So if you're still reading this, thank you.**

 **If you still haven't figured out the secret after you have read all 85 chapters of awesomeness, PM me and I'll be happy to share.**


	6. Charlie

"Who the Nether are you?" The man woke to a female voice. He tried to attack out of surprise, but quickly found he couldn't move. He opened his eyes and saw he was tied up. He spotted an oddly familiar young woman with blonde hair standing a few blocks away with a torch. A piece of string ran from his bindings over to her. She held the torch threateningly close to the string. "I said," The woman glared at him, "who are you."

"Where am I?" He asked, extremely confused. Last thing he remembered was talking to his pregnant wife about their unborn child. "Where's Em? What have you done to her?" He struggled.

"Calm. Down. I have no idea who the slime-faced-pig it is you're talking about." The woman insulted Em so causally. The man grew angry.

"Em is my wife, you dirt-under-the-void!" He yelled at her, trying harder to break the string.

"No. I will not set him on fire. Leave me alone." The woman suddenly muttered to herself. The man froze, ending all struggle. This woman was insane, and she wanted to burn him to death. The best thing he could hope to do was stay still and hope she forgot about him.

"I don't know who he is! What if he's important? What if killing him could start a war?" She paused as if listening to someone talk. "I don't know! I don't go out much! How am I supposed to know who starts wars? I was only in one, and we clearly knew who the enemy was then!" Definitely crazy. Living in a cave, talking to herself, and imagining a war? He had heard of no such battle, but he was sure if one had actually happened he would know, people really liked to talk about any type of suffering.

"Can you blame me? I was fourteen, and you had to barge into my head!" Another pause, she seemed to get angry. "And it's your fault in the first place! If you had just been patient, I wouldn't even be in this mess!" The woman punched the stone wall, and hissed in pain when she pulled it away to find her knuckle slightly bloody.

He looked around for anything for anything that could cut his binds. The only thing he saw was a lump a few blocks away. His blood turned cold, it was a dead man; fresh if the lack of smell was anything to go by. He was going to be next. He knew it. His wife would spend years wondering what happened to him as she raised their children. Then, one night, zombies would finally break down the door and they would all be eaten.

He felt on the ground behind him for anything that might be able to cut the string. He held back a triumphant smile when his hand landed on a pointy rock.

The strange woman hadn't stopped talking to herself in the time it took for those thoughts to run through his mind. "Just shut up! Everything bad that's happened to me has been _your_ fault! Okay, maybe that one time it was mine, but you made me destroy my hand! Do you know how much that hurt? And sometimes it gets itchy!" She turned and he saw a stump where her hand was supposed to be. Voices that made her hurt herself. His day was just getting better and better.

"Yeah, yeah. I know complaining won't help anything, but it definitely makes me feel less like punching you." She glanced at the air, as if someone was standing there, but quickly looked away. "No, All. I will not punch you. No matter how much I want to. I know what you're doing. No. I refuse to continue this conversation."

The woman looked at him once again. "You haven't answered my question yet."

"I'm Charlie, ma'am. Er- are you okay?" He decided distracting her with conversation would be the safest way to distract her until he freed himself.

She tilted her head and studied Charlie. "It depends on what you define as 'okay'."

"Well, maybe talking about it would make you feel better," he said.

"Heh, you wouldn't believe me. You'd think I'm crazy, too." She shook her head and leaned against the stone wall, slowly sliding down it until her bottom hit the ground.

"Try me," Charlie challenged. Her blue eyes scrutinized him deeply, as though she were attempting to find his deepest secrets. Fortunately, (or unfortunately, depending on who you were) no amount of staring could give her any knowledge on who he was.

The young woman sighed, and brought her knees up to her chest, making her look small and vulnerable. "When I was young, I was picked on; a lot. I could see things, things no one else even knew they were there. And when I grew angry, I spoke strangely, and none could decipher what I said, no matter how hard they tried.

"On my fourteenth birthday, everyone found out that the monsters were real. The monsters had been created by Herobrine, a God that no one knew existed. A Goddess, Ender, who had been asleep for centuries, had awoken, and wished to take revenge. So she attacked any and all villages she could find, including my own. The Two, Notch and Herobrine, were not happy about this, and they brought all the Minerafters together to wage war on the Goddess. They won, thankfully. But not without suffering heavy losses. Herobrine, along with Ender, had died. But not permanently we found out three years later though, that they had lived somehow. But Ender had gone insane and killed herself."

Charlie froze. How did this woman know of the Forgotten and Sleeping? He bindings had snapped in the middle of her story, but he had held the ends tight to make sure it looked like he was still bound, he had to wait until she wasn't looking, he didn't know what she was capable of. He watched her, she seemed so helpless, curled up against the wall. He couldn't help but feel bad for her.

"I had distracted Ender during the first fight," the woman continued, "as a reward they gave me a seat on their council. Heh. Some reward it turned out to be." She sniffled. "I lost a close friend when Ender lost her mind."

"I'm sorry for your loss." Charlie said somberly. She stared at the wall, seemingly lost in thought. "But do you know of a man named Jeb?"

"He's my ancestor, Ender's first Caretaker." The woman replied. She didn't even look like she noticed she had said anything.

Charlie felt his heart squeeze. He had a feeling he knew why she was familiar."What's your mother's name?"

"Ember. Why?" The woman snapped out of her daze at the odd question, and she tensed.

Charlie stood in wonder. It couldn't be a coincidence, the woman had Em's facial features, and his hair. "Max?" He stepped towards her. He only had time to notice the dead man was no longer on the floor before he felt pain hit the back of his skull.

* * *

 **Hmmm. That's exciting. It seems we have a new character. Or did he die from that hit to his head? Sorry for any mistakes, I was a bit rushed to finish this before another day passed.**

 **Two reviews for six chapters? That makes me sad. Review please!**


	7. Sunset

"Wither!" Max glared at the God, who had just hit the man over the head with a spade. "What was that for?"

" _He was untied."_

"So? I could've handled it." Max said as Wither pulled chain from the air.

 _"He knew your name,"_ Wither pointed out, wrapping the man in the newly created chains. _"And when I woke up, you told him your mother's name."_ He frowned at the expression on His friend's face. _"Which, I'm guessing, you didn't know you told him."_

"No." She mumbled. She had been thinking about All and why the Evil part of It wanted to burn the man when the neutral and good hadn't given her anything to harm him. That meant he wasn't a threat. "All." She spoke suddenly, startling Wither, who had begun to pack up their things.

 _Yes?_

"I didn't want to talk to you." Max pulled her bag onto her shoulder.

 _Then why did you call for me, hmm?_

"I mean I don't want to talk to _this_ All."

 _Too bad._

Max growled in frustration, then sighed in defeat. "Fine. Who is this man?"

 _A man out of his time, with hair that looks like a carrot, into a world with a new crime, he is a very important parent._

"Riddle me this, riddle me that, how many blocks does it take to go splat?" Max replied, very annoyed with the so called 'evil' part of the universe. And she thought his blonde hair looked more like a bush.

 _Touche._

"I really don't have time for this." Max sighed and followed Wither out the alcove, she paused to wait as her friend inspected the two separate tracks that she made when she dragged the man and God into the small shelter.

 _You better make time, then._

Her eye twitched in annoyance as she scowled. Wither looked at her warily, and shifted Charlie so he was laying on the shoulder facing Max. She glared at Him for using the mortal man as a shield from her wrath. "Cowards, the both of you."

 _Hey!_ _I am not a coward._ All said this at the same time Wither replied: _"Better him than me."_

Max's scowl deepened. "All, you refuse to tell me about this man. Which most likely means you fear my reaction, therefore, you are a coward. And Wither, I'm disappointed in you. You're immortal, so you wouldn't die if I stabbed you. Your fleshy protection however, would."

 _"That's not nice."_ He pouted, trying, and failing, to lighten her sour mood. _"You realize that he would do the same if our positions were switched, Max."_

"And how do you know that?" She glared. She had no idea why she seemed to scare Him so much, as she had said, He was immortal, and couldn't die by her hands. Well, hand and stump.

 _"You have to like someone to want to protect them. As you've no doubt noticed; no one likes me. So, when faced with their own safety or the safety of someone they do not hold any like for-"_

"With, not everybody dislikes you." She interrupted, irritated by His words.

 _"Pfft."_ He snorted. _"And who would that be?"_

" _I_ for one, like you."

Wither wondered how the small creature from the lake had entered his stomach and why was it moving around so much. He realized there was no possible way for the creature to get into his digestive system without Him knowing, which meant it was Max's words that made His stomach feel so... fluttery. He knew Max liked Him, she had to like Him if she didn't kick Him out of her home with Kreaya sticking out of His ears. But, why did her confirming what He already knew, make Him feel so strange? He wasn't sure He liked the feeling; in fact, He was almost positive He didn't. Then how come He never wanted it to leave?

"It's not that surprising, With." Max said, wrongly guessing the reason for His face filled with confusion. "You're funny, a good listener, and only occasionally annoying." She grabbed a bag off the ground that had fallen from His shoulders, and swung it onto her own.

He didn't even notice the dropped baggage, He was so preoccupied with His stomach.

"Now then, All. Tell me who this man is or I'm going to leave him here." Max remembered their previous conversation.

 _You know, I was planning on telling you. After I teased you a bit more, of course. But I don't think I'm going to now._

"All..." Max growled. She had every intention of leaving the strange man behind if It didn't tell her who he was. She might have brought him with them for sure when she was younger, but now that she was older and more hardened... his chances of survival didn't look too good.

 _Fine._ Venom laced the word. _He's not a threat and is mentally unable to harm you. That is all you need to know._

'So he's important.' Max thought. The evil All had wanted him dead before. Well, not necessarily dead, but It wanted him to suffer. And now It wanted to keep him alive, why? If the darkest and most vile part of the universe wouldn't let the man die, than maybe she shouldn't leave him to the cold icy environment. But then again, if the before mentioned _evil_ All wanted him to live, then he might be bad news. Max shook her head; bad news or not, she would let him live until she at least finished her interrupted interrogation.

After a few hours had gone by, they left the taiga and entered a new forest biome. Wither had decided he was hungry, so he stopped at a giant red mushroom, and climbed.

"What are you doing?" She asked the God, curious as to why He randomly stopped at a mushroom, one like all the other mushrooms they had passed, and why He had began to scale the huge fungus.

 _"Hungry."_ He grunted as He pulled himself onto the mushroom's slightly squared cap.

"So you're going to eat that thing?" Max was not impressed. They still had a lot of ground to reach... she still wasn't sure yet. Actually, she wasn't sure if they were headed in any specific direction. But she knew that this stop wouldn't favour them time wise. "Wither, the sun is setting. We need to find shelter for the night."

 _"Already found it."_ He grabbed her by the arm and hauled her up next to him on the mushroom cap. He had put down all the bags He had been carrying, and had propped their prisoner up on them.

Max slid her two bags off as well while she asked, "What's so special about this mushroom? Why not a tree?"

 _"This has a flatter surface than a tree, and we're less likely to fall out and become lunch to the Mobs."_ He started to pull things out of one of the bags.

"Mobs?"

 _"Monsters Of 'Brine. I know He hates it when I call them that, so I always do."_ Wither grinned devilishly, and His grin grew wider when He found what He had been searching for. _"Besides, the view from up here is amazing."_ And He was right. The sun set against the horizon made up of more trees, every now and then a giant mushroom (much like the one they were standing on) or bunch of flowers would pop out, accenting the forest which seemed to almost glow as the sun disappeared. Purple, pink, black, and blue faded in and out above their heads, showing off the twinkling stars that had burst to life in the never ending darkness of space.

Max was breath taken. She had never seen a sunset before, well she had, but those were watched from the ground, or her tree-house where other jungle trees blocked her view. But she had never seen one like this.

Wither smiled at the look of awe on her face, she seemed so vulnerable. Her face, normally hard and stony, had softened in the slight light offered by the dying sun. She had relaxed, and a true smile had formed, not a smirk, not the confident smile that hid her away, not a grin, not the evil grin that she sometimes got; but something calm and sensitive and free from any and all worry. He silently offered her a cookie, not wishing to break this rare moment where He could see her without being alert or stressed or ready for battle.

As she nibbled on the chocolate treat, still watching the sun announce it was time for bed with its colourful light reflecting off any clouds that drifted across the sky in wonder, and He watching her with that same sense of wonder, a third and forth observed them. The third was supposed to be unconscious, laying against the packs full of supplies. He saw them sitting and remembered his wife, Em, and how they used to watch the sun ready for sleep every day at their mountain cottage. He stayed silent, letting them have their moment. If the girl was truly Max, _his_ Max, then he would prefer not to ruin anything she had, he wanted to give her every moment of happiness she could get. And even if she weren't the person he thought she was, this point in time was personal between the girl and the... strangely alive grey man.

The forth watched without anyone even knowing It was there. **_I thought I told you to leave._** It blocked these words from Max, as to not disturb the Akroatis. **_I do_ not _like being observed. Yes, I suppose that does make me a hypocrite, but I truly don't care. Leave. Now._**

* * *

 **I'm a Beta Reader now, yay!**

 **How do you people think Charlie is connected to Max? And will Wither and Max get together? Or will I fail at the romance like always?**

 **No reviews? Okay, now I'm sad D:**


	8. On a Mushroom

_"I wonder what stars are made of."_ Wither said. He and Max had finish eating, and were currently laying on their backs, looking up at the bright dots of light.

"Stone." Max replied. He looked at her quizzically. "My mother told me that when the world was still new, the sun was killing the plants with its shriveling intensity, so the Two took it away. But it was too dark, they looked around, and saw a stone glowing a soft silvery colour. They threw it up into the sky where it cracked. One half fell back down to the ground, and bounced, splintering into a thousand different pieces in the process. They flew back into the sky, and stuck there." She stretched out a kink in her back.

They were silent for a moment, listening to the groans, and moans, and hisses of the Mobs. Then, "they didn't find the stone laying there on the ground." Max suddenly said, becoming anxious at the noise. Remembering being in the alcove with nothing to defend herself made her tense, and even though she had an awake God with her, and Charlie didn't seem to be a threat so far, she still felt uneasy.

He looked at her once again, hearing the note of anxiety in her voice. _"Where'd They find it?"_ He asked, trying to distract her from the stressful noises. Nether, even _He_ was getting freaked out, and He could turn to dust and fly away.

"They didn't find it, They made it. They took a normal piece of stone, and a small part of the sun, then somehow squished the sun into the rock," she continued.

 _"Why is the moon silver if the sun is yellow?"_

"Something to do with the rock's natural colour changing the light."

Wither looked back up at the dark night sky. _"The Mobs are really bugging you, aren't they?"_

"No!" She shouted. "No, they are not. It's fine." She said more calmly.

"You don't look fine," Charlie observed, startling both the Minecrafter and God.

 _"When did you wake up?"_ Wither asked.

"What?" Charlie replied. He couldn't understand the weird words that came from the grey man's mouth.

"Wither, he doesn't know what you're saying." Max told her friend at His confused look.

 _"You understand me."_ Wither pointed out.

"Yes, With. _But I'm special."_ She explained to the slightly ignorant four year old.

"Hello? Still can't understand this language you two seem so intent on speaking." Charlie interrupted their _oh so interesting_ conversation.

Max sent a glare his way, then turned back to Wither. "Talk like I always do, With."

 _"L_ ik _e th_ is? _"_ He said, His tongue stumbling over the foreign words. It had been so long since He had spoken the other language.

Max looked to Charlie to see his reaction. "Okay, what? I can kind of understand him now, but that doesn't matter. How the Nether did he learn so fast?" Charlie was having a hard time comprehending his situation. He wished for the hundredth time that he was back home with his wife and children.

 _"T_ ha _t i_ s no _ne o_ f yo _ur b_ usi _nes_ s." Wither told him, not without a hint of malice in His voice.

Max frowned at the God's strange behaviour. She had never seen Him act like this before, He had always been happy and playful, never showing any ill intentions towards anyone. "No matter how rude that was, Wither is right. You do not need to know that."

The captive Minecrafter muttered something unflattering under his breath about 'insane dead people'.

"How are you alive?" Charlie finally said.

Max and Wither shared a strange look. _"I'_ ve al _w_ ay _s be_ en _al_ iv _e."_

"But you're grey."

 _"I k_ now _. I_ s _t_ ha _t a p_ r _o_ bl _e_ m? _"_

"No, just..." Charlie paused to think on how to explain. "Normally, grey people, are dead people."

 _"W_ e _ll I'_ m _no_ t _n_ or _m_ a _l."_

"I can see that. I think something strange is going on here."

"And I think it's too dark." Max butted into the conversation. They were distracting, but not enough to draw her mind away from the thought of the Mobs. She remembered watching the Mobs kill, tearing off faces, ripping limbs, and exploding all who came too close. Non of those options were a good way to go. And Max preferred to keep her face in death, thank you very much. Wither glanced at her worriedly, He knew she was lying earlier when she said the Mobs didn't bother her. He had never seen her so afraid, she had always been the tough one. Why was she so fearful of the Mobs now?

He pulled out a torch and snapped His fingers, lighting it instantaneously. He placed it on the soft mushroom top, looking at Max to see her relax.

 _All._ She needed to talk to It without Charlie knowing, so she didn't speak out loud.

 _ **Yes, Max?**_

 _Are you afraid of the Mobs?_

The question caught It off guard. _**Why do you ask?**_

I am not afraid of them. Never have been, even when I thought of them as illusions of my mind. Which makes it very weird that I fear every little sound now. It could only mean that your emotions are leaking into my own again.

There was silence for a moment. Then, _ **I do not fear the monsters that you are thinking of, but those unknown. I apologize for harming you, my Akroatis.**_

"Don't call me that." Max accidentally growled aloud. Charlie gave her an odd look, but she ignored him. She felt her muscles un-tense as the unwelcome emotion was purged from her mind.

 _Great,_ Charlie thought, _crazy mode again._ He was getting tired of this, he just wanted to go home. He looked up to the sky, but his eyes caught on something. He looked closer at Wither's face, and gasped. He tried to bow, but the chains restrained him, so he just fell on his face.

"What?" Max said as the soft _thump!_ of his nose hitting the mushroom distracted her from All. Charlie just mumbled something, his face still stuck in the fungus cap. She sighed, grabbed him by the back of his neck, and pulled him up.

"My Lord."

 _"W_ ha _t?"_ Wither said.

"You're a God, are you not?"

 _"_ E _r-_ ye _s_. _Wh_ y _d_ oes t _ha_ t m _att_ er _?"_ Wither was extremely confused.

Both males looked to Max to explain. "Why do I always have to-" she sighed, accepting her fate to be the one to always clear everything up. "Wither, usually people respect Gods by calling them Lord or Lady. Charlie, Wither has been living with me in solitude so He is not accustomed to-"

 _ **Run.**_

"Huh?" Max paused her explanation at the command.

 _ **Go, now. You are in danger.**_

"And why should I listen to you?" She was annoyed that All thought It could order her around.

 _ **If you do not find higher ground,you will die.**_

"Good enough for me. Wither, help me grab everything."

" _W_ ha?" He responded to her suddenly snatching everything in sight, and stuffing it into a bag.

"No time!" She could hear crashing at the edge of her hearing. Wither saw how desperate she was, and broke up into smaller versions of Himself, packing everything away. Just as He finished, Max saw the beast that created all that noise.

It stood as tall as the mushroom and had dark green skin. Beady yellow eyes peered above gaping maw. Its teeth were pointed and lopsided. A loincloth hung beneath its giant potbelly. In its hands it held a large hammer which it used to smash its way through the previously peaceful forest. Its eyes narrowed when it spotted the group atop the mushroom. When it roared the gold earrings that was hanging from its long ear jangled

* * *

 **Mob: Ogre (from Mo' Creatures)**


	9. Fight

The creature roared, and stomped towards them.

"Why are you just standing there? We have to go!" Charlie tried to leave, but once again the chains inhibited him, and he fell off the mushroom.

"Watch it!" Max snatched him from the air and pulled him back up. "It's too late, if we try to run that thing will catch us. We have to fight." She began to look around for a weapon.

 _Klump!_

She looked up from the packs to see something shiny laying on the red fungus. Kreaya had appeared just above the cap. "You never seem to be able to make that landing" She grinned and grabbed her precious sword.

"W-what just..." Charlie was gaping at the enchanted weapon.

"Charlie, meet Kreaya." She chuckled at his expression. She turned when she heard the crashing become louder.

 _"Max, we have a problem!"_ One of the Withers shouted from the other side of the mushroom, the rest of Him were building a small tower of bags.

"What?" She yelled back, her eyes on the approaching monster. It was fifty blocks away, but it was moving fast, smashing through the trees with its hammer swinging back and forth.

 _"I don't know how to fight!"_ He said, panicked.

"Nether stone of bats." She swore. "Just stay behind me."

All the Withers pushed the stack of bags behind Max, then grabbed Charlie and climbed. They sat on the top and yelled encouragements down to Max. _"Yeah, you go girl!" "You can do it!" "Hit 'em where it hurts!" "Ohh, nice one!"_

"It hasn't even reached us!" She yelled back at them. "So shut up so I can make sure we're not all killed!"

 _"I can't die!" "We don't know that, have you ever been killed?" "No, have you?" "No." "We should go and help!" "You go ahead. I'm staying here." "You coward!" "Have you ever encountered something like this? For all we know, it's another God that will kill us all!" "Good point."_

As Wither argued with Himself, the monster had continued approaching so that it was now ten blocks away.

Max readied her sword, waiting patiently for the monster to come in range of the sharp blade. It had been a while since she last wielded Kreaya, or any weapon. Staying up high in her tree far from the dangers of the ground had made it so she never had to fight for her life. Though she practiced once a month to make sure she wouldn't become too rusty. _'But,'_ She mused to herself, _'I didn't know how to fight at all in the village attack, and I'm still alive.'_ She tightened her grip. _'I hope this thing isn't tougher than a horde of Mobs.'_

The green creature had reached the mushroom. It swung its hammer upwards, which made the blocks go flying. She felt Kreaya tug at her, she followed the movements it seemed to want her to make.

She jumped aside to dodge a block that had been on a crash course with her head. She ran towards the beast, moving away every so often to avoid the square projectiles. When she reached the edge of the mushroom -which didn't take very long, the mushroom was only so big- she hopped off with her sword pointed downwards, it making small adjustments here and there. She landed on the creature's head, Kreaya implanted firmly into its shoulder. She would have hit its shoulder, and Kreaya its head, if it didn't move to the side at the last second.

It screeched in pain and reached up to remove the blade. Max yanked the weapon out of its skin, and quickly stabbed its hand, pinning it in place. Another scream almost pierced her eardrums. She raised her stump to cover her ears the best she could. It turned out that even though she could not grab anything with her a stump, she still needed it for balance. With the green monster trying to buck her off, and her hand on Kreaya, she easily fell so that she was only hanging on by the hilt of her sword. She flopped around on its back with its movements, desperately trying to get a foothold so she could pull herself back up. If she fell, the creature would smash her with its hammer until all that was left was a pile of goo.

It kept reaching behind itself, grabbing at her flailing arm and feet; thankfully, it couldn't reach that far, so she was safe, at least until her hand grew tired, which it was rapidly becoming. Her hair flew about, and she cursed herself for not tying it up while Wither built His tower of safety. She felt slightly irked that she, the mortal, was the one fighting while He was lounging up high with Charlie. But she couldn't get too mad; He was helpless and would most likely make the situation worse by doubling the monster in size with His powers. Her fingers began to slip. She scrambled at the hilt with her stump, fruitlessly attempting to find purchase without fingers.

Finally, she fell, landing hard on the grass. She felt the wind get knocked out of her. She tried to pull air back into her lungs and she crawled backwards, retreating in the hope that she could take a moment to recover. That hope was dashed to pieces when her back hit a rough surface. She glanced upwards to see a green leafy canopy; she had cornered herself into two trees, one on either side. She could squeeze between them if she stood, but she still hadn't recovered her breath enough to even get to her knees. She pondered how she had allowed herself to get this helpless. She could see the earth pulling at the creatures feet, slowing it down. She heard All cursing, and a glance to the side revealed It was sitting against a tree, in a position much like her own.

It saw her watching and stopped cursing long enough to say **_I won't let another Akroatis die,_** then went back to speaking foul words.

Wither was still arguing with Himself. _"We should kill it!" "Why? Give me one good reason."_ A smaller part of Him spoke up. _"Max is in trouble."_ All of His heads quickly turned towards the Minecrafter. He was alarmed by the sight of her without her weapon, but was sure she had it under control.

Charlie had been watching the fight, and was also alarmed. A plan on how to save her quickly formed in his mind. He turned to the God, "can you get me out of these things? They're kinda itchy." Okay, so maybe claiming that chains were itchy wasn't the best idea, but it worked anyway. Wither absently nodded, and flicked His hand, focused on Max. The chains disappeared and he quickly jumped down. He started towards the monster, but was stopped when a block landed on him, pinning him to the ground. "Oh, come on!" He shouted in frustration

The creature raised its hammer, and crashed it downwards towards Max's head. She dodged, but just barely. That was when Wither realized that no, she didn't have it all under control. He sat there for a moment, stunned. The thought that she didn't know how to get out of her situation had never crossed His mind. He watched as the creature raised its weapon again, and it slammed down. But this time Max couldn't dodge, the hammer landed directly on her left hand. She screamed, and something seemed wrong, but Wither brushed that feeling aside. Without thinking, He morphed into a monster as large as the green creature. He had morphed so fast, that all His heads didn't have time to rejoin, so He had three. He floated above the creature that dared hurt Max, His bony dark grey tail swishing in anger.

He attacked, and was slightly surprised to see a skull fire at the beast. He hadn't been thinking clearly when He morphed, so He supposed it made sense in a twisted way; He wanted to crush the creature's skull in His hands, and listen to it scream.

The skull hit the creature, making it jump back and yell. It seemed to turn slightly black, and kept taking damage. He kept attacking, skulls flying at it like deathly rain. Eventually, it gave one last scream, and turned into a puff of smoke. He quickly headed for the ground, morphing back into Himself. Max grinned up at Him. "That was impressive. I thought you said you couldn't fight?"

 _"Are you okay?"_ He asked, frantically trying to pull the hammer off her hand, but failing. _"Your hand-"_

"Is fine" She held up both arms to show Him, still smiling.

 _"What? How?"_ Relief swelled in Him at the fact that she was okay.

"It tried to squish my already missing hand. I played along to see if it would relax so I could hit it." She stood up, and brushed off her pants.

 _"Where could you hit it? That thing was pretty tough."_

"That loincloth didn't look like very good armour." She laughed at His expression of horror.

A scream sounded over by the destroyed fungus, they both rushed over to see Charlie pinned by a block of dirt, and a creeper approaching. "The Nether is that thing!" He yelled.

Max quickly dispatched it. _'He must have been living under a rock for a while. After the war, everyone can see them.'_ "That's a creeper." She spoke aloud. "What are you doing down here?"

"I tried to help, then this piece of dirt fell on me."

"Why would you help? You don't even know me." As the two conversed, Wither watched a form slink in the grass. It was long, and had no legs, just a head. It came upon Charlie's leg, which seemed to startle it, it lunged forward, its jaw unhinged. It bit down and Charlie screamed again, this time in pain. Max yanked the thing off of him, ripping the teeth from his flesh. She threw it to the ground and stabbed it in the head. It disappeared much like the two green monsters, the only thing left of it was a tooth laying in the grass. Wither snatched the tooth up, figuring that it could be useful later, as Max tended to the injured man.

"This is bad." She muttered to herself, surveying the wound "This is really bad." The bite was turning purple, pus and blood leaking from the punctures in his skin. He was quickly losing consciousness. The thing that bit him must have been poisonous.

Wither observed as Charlie motioned Max to lean down so he could so he could speak to her. His energy draining as fast as his consciousness. Wither watched as disbelief filled her face, then shock.

* * *

 **Muhahahaha! I hate cliffhangers, except when I'm making them. As you might be able to tell, this chapter is a bit longer than usual, that's because I'm lifting my 'Must be at least 1000 words!' to 'Must be at least 1500 words!' ...It's an improvement.**

Guest:

 **Yay! Glad you like it :D**


	10. Wait, What?

_"Max, calm down."_ Wither told the pacing Minecrafter. After Charlie had been bitten, Max had forced Wither to teleport them to Notch's castle to see if he could be treated. Notch had succeeded in slowing down the affects of the poison, but was unable to stop it completely, so now they were outside the infirmary with Charlie was laying in a bed inside, with the best doctors, and even a God trying to save him, he was still dying slowly.

"Nope." She continued pacing, too restless to sit down.

 _"What did he tell you?"_ Wither asked.

"What?" She stopped to look at Him.

 _"You're all worked up over him. Two days ago and you wouldn't of cared."_ Wither pointed out.

"Of course I would have cared! That is a person, that _I_ let get hurt!" She threw her hands up in frustration, almost hitting a woman behind her. The lady shot Max a nasty look, which Wither returned. At the sight of the annoyed God the woman rushed away, almost smacking into the stone wall in her hurry to vacate the area.

 _"Not this much."_

She ignored His comment. "It's my fault he was even down there. If I had just-"

 _"Max,"_ Wither said sternly, _"if it's anyone's fault, it's his. He left the mushroom when he knew he could get hurt. I still don't know why you care so much."_

She simply watched her feet, not looking at anything. Wither sighed and stood from His perch on a hard wooden chair, He walked over to her and wrapped His arms around her. Whatever was in His stomach was moving again, it moved even more when Max leaned into His embrace.

The hug was slightly awkward, as neither of them had ever really hugged anyone. Max had been raised by her uncle who she didn't see much because of her chores, or he had been out on a business trip, whenever he _was_ home she was mad at him for trying to marry her off (she still didn't understand why he did that). Everyone else had given her a wide berth, for she was dubbed the town's 'crazy insane person who must be avoided at all costs.' And Wither was simply too young to know what a hug was, until that moment. It had felt like something had pushed Him towards Max to comfort her, as though something else wanted to hug her, but couldn't do so for unknown reasons.

Eventually, she pulled away. Wither didn't want her to, but knew that it wasn't the time to start up a awkward conversation about why He wouldn't let her go. That would be difficult to explain, seeing as He also didn't know the answer to that.

 _"Shall I get you some food?"_ He asked. One thing He did know, was that food always seemed to cheer her up. She nodded, and gave Him a small smile. His stomach flopped again. He walked away slowly, trying to keep an eye on her from the corner of His eye.

He turned the corner, following the path the woman from earlier had taken, except turning right when she had turned left. Down the hallway He walked, towards the kitchen. His feet tapping on the wooden floors. When He turned another corner, He stopped. Not by choice though, as He had ran right into someone.

 _"And where are you going?"_ A voice asked. It spoke the language of Gods, so it wasn't very hard for Wither to guess who it was.

 _"Max is hungry, I'm getting her some food, Notch."_ Wither told the older being coldly. They had never really got along. At first it was because Wither reminded Notch of His then-dead brother, Herobrine. Then when Herobrine returned, Wither had turned His castle upside down. And after Max had tried to beat some sense into both of Them, They kept hating each other because They simply didn't know how to feel any different emotion about the other. Wither supposed it had something to do with their roles, Notch being good, and Wither evil, though He wasn't sure He was, He had never felt evil. Would He even know if He was?

 _"And why can't she get herself food?"_ Notch replied, also cold. He didn't like Max either, but that may be because the Minecrafter was close to Wither, and Max defended Him violently, as they found out once when she dangled a servant out a window for insulting her friend. That act had made Notch dislike her more.

 _"Out of my way, Notch."_ Wither glared. _"Max is worried for Charlie."_

 _"Ah, yes. The man you two brought back. Truthfully the only one I wish had come."_ Max was the only Minecrafter Notch disliked. Even though He respected her. He loved all His precious creations, and would do anything to protect them. So when Wither and Max had brought Charlie with them, Notch's respect for the pair deepened. He still didn't like them, but He wouldn't deny them shelter in His home for thee time being.

Wither fell to pieces and slipped behind the other God. He reformed with His back turned towards Notch. He grinned in satisfaction at the _Thump!_ noise as Notch fell. Wither had tied His shoelaces together while He was dust. He ran down the hallway, His laughter drowning out Notch's foul curses.

* * *

 _ **He's** **right you know.**_

"Hmm?" Max looked up from her pacing at the sudden voice. Strange looks from staff and civilians alike were shot her way.

 ** _It wasn't your fault._**

"I should have done something. We all saw that thing approach him, I didn't do anything." She walked over to a wall and leaned against it, ignoring the glances. Though it had been years since she had been looked at like that, she was used to it.

 ** _If you're going to blame yourself, you should also blame Me. I could have manipulated the dirt to hold it in place._**

"I do blame you." Max said. Her eyes traveled upwards and landed on the sorrowful apparition that only she could see. "But not for that." The area around Max slowly vacated. Some leaving silently, as though she would attack if they made any sudden movements, others did the opposite of that and booked it, running as if their lives depended on it.

All was silent, just watching Max with Its hazel eyes. If Max didn't know better, she would say that All was truly there; but it was apparent everyone thought she was talking to the voices inside her mind. Which she actually was. She gave a small snort at that. Maybe she was crazy, maybe All was only a figment of her imagination.

Sensing her inner conflict, All walked over and wrapped a comforting arm around her. She felt Its surprise that she didn't shrug It off. If All _was_ a figment of her imagination, It was good at pretending to be real.

 _ **You know I'm real, Max.**_

That she did, though she sometimes wished she didn't. Life would be much easier if It was a hallucination.

 _Easier, yes. But also less fun._

 ** _What are you doing_** _**here?**_ All's Minecrafter form looked up and around, as though it could spot the evil part of Itself in the small crowd of people waiting for their loved ones.

 _Existing._

"Answer the question." Max said, annoyed with Its snarky comeback. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a man pointing her out to a nurse. He waved his hands frantically, seeming to almost yell at the nurse. The nurse quickly calmed him, and glanced in Max's direction.

 _Yes, your highness._ It mocked her. _I'm here because I want to be. And to gloat._

 ** _Gloat? About what?_**

 _Oh, it's just that I know who Charlie is._

"So do I." Max replied to the open air. The nurse looked at her worriedly, and began to walk over.

It cackled. _But do you know of the knowledge locked inside his head? Do you know how he came to be here? Do you know what will save him?_

Max felt her breath hitch. Save him? And what knowledge? "What do you mean? Tell me right now."

"Excuse me, miss? Are you okay?" The nurse had approached silently, as though Max was an animal. Her green eyes looked over Max carefully, assessing how much force would be needed to take her down if Max grew violent.

Max stared at the woman, and whispered under her breath.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" The nurse leaned forwards to hear.

"I can kill you with a single word."

The nurse was alarmed for a moment, then scurried off.

 _Bwahahahahahaha!_ All's laughter exploded in Max's brain, giving her a small headache. _That was priceless! Do it again!_ She felt Its amusement, and couldn't help feeling some of her own. The look on that woman's face was pretty funny. She let out a chuckle.

 ** _That wasn't very nice._**

 _So? It was hilarious!_

 ** _You may think so. But she is getting security._**

 _Heheh. Even more fun._

"Just tell me how to save Charlie." Max was growing impatient.

 _Oh, but of course. As soon as you mess up the guards coming to take you to the loony bin._

A glance up revealed two large men walking towards her dressed in dark suits. They were cautious as they neared her, she had scared everyone around her, they didn't know what they were dealing with.

"Ma'am, I'm going to need you to come with me." One said when Ma made it apparent she knew they were approaching her. She gave them an innocent look.

"Whatever for?"

"People are telling us you are bothering them, and talking to yourself."

"What if I am? And I'm quite comfortable right here, thank you very much."

"Ma'am, it would be best if you come peacefully." The man grabbed a sword from his back.

She simply smiled at him. Kreaya appeared just above his head, and fell. The man didn't have a helmet, so it knocked him unconscious. She supposed he would have a very large headache the next day. She looked at the other man, his expression was stricken as he slowly backed off.

"I suggest you run." Max told him. He quickly complied.

Again, laughter rang in Max's head. _That was too funny! I hope he brings back more people!_

"All, information. Now."

 _Fine, fine. You're no fun. The cure is in the End. But it looks like time is running out for daddy dearest, you better hurry._

* * *

 **Not my best chapter. But at least the characters had fun. And not the best way to reveal who Charlie is, but at least now you know, if you don't, study what 'evil All' said.**

 **Remember, you can review as a guest!**

 **I've forgotten to do this for so long. I do not own Minecraft or any of its Mods. If anyone believes that, they are greatly mistaken.**


	11. Steve

Frantic tapping drew Max's attention, she was still leaning against the stone wall of Notch's castle, trying to make sense of what All had said. She turned her head to see who was making the noise. Notch stood there, and let out an audible sigh when He saw it was only Max. When His guards had come to him saying there was a 'Magical lady that knocked out George without lifting a finger!' He had freaked out, thinking that perhaps Ender had once again returned. But no, it was only the Akroatis, who He guessed also could be called a 'Magical lady that knocked out George without lifting a finger!'

"Hello, Notch," she greeted him.

"Care to tell me why the guards are saying you attacked them." He spoke the Minecrafter language so the people behind Him -currently armed with whatever they could find, from diamond swords to dirt blocks- would not attack His guest.

"It was self defense. I was conversing with All and-"

"All? I thought you refuse to speak to It?" He made a shooing motion with His hand towards the small crowd to disperse them.

Notch mulled over that. Injuring one Minecrafter to save the life of another. He supposed those weren't the worst odds. He shook his head slightly, and sighed. _"How are we going to save him?"_ At her surprised look He said, _"he is one of my creations, I will do my best to keep him alive."_

"All said the cure to that strange creature's poison is in the End."

Notch frowned at that. _"I apologize, but I cannot teleport you there."_ She opened her mouth to ask why, but He interrupted. _"It has been many, many centuries since I have stepped foot in Ender's realm. It is very likely the terrain has changed, and if I do not know the terrain, you will probably appear into a block. You will die instantly, and Wither will be ejected from all sides of the cube. I imagine it is not pleasant to be exploded, I have not experienced it, but my Brother has, back before Ender was created. It took Him four-hundred years to recover, and we had a group of the strongest Witches to help Him."_

Max's face took on an expression of sympathy for the white-eyed God; He had been through some very bad experiences, and it sounded that even without the evil Goddess, His life would be misery. It was almost as if the universe hated Him. She had to suppress a chuckle at that preposterous thought; she _knew_ the universe, and It hadn't shown any signs of hating a single one of Its children. Her mood turned sour when she remembered the situation. "Can't you teleport us to the portal at least?"

Notch shook His head again. _"The same problem as the End. I do not know the area well enough to reassure your safety. I remember the last time an Akroatis died, a cloud covered the land, shielding the monsters from the sun. No one could even smile during that year, and everyone burst into random crying fits once a week. My plan is to keep you alive as long as possible, I'm not taking any risks."_

The Mincrafter blinked, digesting this new information. That hadn't happened when they all believed Herobrine and Ender dead. Could it be that she meant more to All than Its children? All's silence on the whole matter answered her question. She opened her mouth to speak, but again, Notch interrupted.

 _"Yes, I know It favours you. Frankly, I don't care. What is the use of worrying over something you can't change?"_ She tried to speak again. _"No, I am not a hypocrite. Those years after the War of One Battle were spent mourning, not worrying. And-"_

"Will you let me speak, you pain in the cow udders of a God!" Max shouted, tired of Him talking over her. He stopped at the outburst, mostly because of the odd insult.

 _"...Cow udders?"_ He managed to ask.

"Shush, shut up, be quiet, shut your pie hole, close your mouth or I'll close it for you. Whichever of those you'd prefer, do it!" She snapped, annoyed with the sound of His voice. "Now, I was _trying_ to ask where the dang portal is!"

 _"Oops."_ He said, embarrassed. _"Er... I'll be right back."_ He teleported away, and reappeared minutes later, but He had brought someone with Him.

 _"Hello, Max."_ Herobrine said, His eyes were a little red still, but were almost completely healed from the Ender possessing Him stuff.

"Hi." She gave a little wave. He smiled at her. Max thought of the God as somewhat a friend, not as close as Wither, but more a friend than anyone else she knew. The God was nice to her when they were both in a good mood, and if not, they would entertain each other with hours of bickering. But because of her solitude, and refusing to leave her home unless she desperately needed something, she didn't see Him often. "What are you doing here?" She asked.

 _"Apparently you need a guide,"_ He replied. _"My Brother cannot make a being intelligent enough to not lead you in circles for years on His own. He provides the idea and thoughts of the creature, I provide the body. When I create on my own, the product is generally a monster, a being without the ability to think on its own. Notch has not created anything else as far as I know. But if He has I imagine it would be little more than a single thought floating in nothingness without a physical form."_

Max nodded in understanding.

 _"Close your eyes, Max. The power needed can blind you."_ When she complied, there was a loud flash of light. Yes, loud. She could hear the light forming into a shape, but she could not tell what shape. The high pitched noise and bright light stopped after a few minutes.

* * *

Wither carefully balanced the plate of food. He had found the kitchen easily enough, He didn't even have to turn to dust, He simply went the direction the delicious smells were coming from. The Chefs had given Him a plate and told Him He could take all the food He could carry. Unfortunately for them, they underestimated Wither's stacking and balancing capabilities, so they were now frantically trying to fill the pantry back up so the castle residents would not go hungry.

He snickered at the memory. The looks on their faces when He piled almost every food item in that kitchen on a single plate had almost made Him drop said plate. People stopped and stared at the tower of food when He walked past, ceasing whatever activity they were doing at the time. They had stopped talking, eating, laughing, crying, working. One lady had dropped her baby, which Wither caught with His free hand. He had scolded her for dropping her child, turned her hands blue without her noticing, and had gone on His way.

He wondered if the lady had seen her discoloured hands yet, or if she was still watching the place He had turned the corner in awe.

He frowned when He saw a bright light coming around the corner. That was where He had left Max, He thought as He promptly dropped the plate of food, the food fell and blocked the hall behind Him. But that didn't matter, He had to make sure His best friend was okay. He smoothly turned into the dark-grey monster He had used to defeat the monster with the hammer. He flew into the air, speeding up now that He didn't need to push anyone to the side so He could pass.

Worry filled Him, and He could feel a power infused head ready itself to destroy whomever dared to harm Max. What if she was actually hurt- or worse. He didn't know what He would do without Max, she had always been there, even when He was created. Heck, she had been the one to help Him out of the crater. _I haven't even given her her birthday present._ He thought, then pushed that thought forcefully out of His mind. Now was not the time to be worrying about gifts, now was the time to be wondering why was this cursed hallway so _long!_

After what seemed like hours, but was actually minutes, Wither reached the end of the dreaded hallway. As soon as He turned the corner He shot the fiery head at the source of light, which was followed with surprised yells. The light disappeared immediately, and He saw Max, Notch and Herobrine all glaring at Him. To be more specific, Max was glaring at Him, while Notch and Herobrine were charging Him.

 _"Ahh!"_ He yelled, and morphed back to His regular form before He was speared with two very pointy swords.

 _"You fool!"_ Herobrine yelled at the younger God. _"That was my last sculpture!"_

Notch was still getting over the fact that the monster that He thought had invaded His castle to kill His people was actually Wither, so all He could do was nod in agreement with His brother.

 _"Wha..?"_

"They were giving us a way to go to the End, and you ruined it." Max told her bewildered friend, a hint of anger evident in her voice.

 _"I-I thought you were in trouble."_ He said meekly, ashamed that He made Max mad.

She pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, reminding herself that it wasn't His fault, that He had been trying to save her. She turned to the Two, "can't you make another being?"

Notch shook His head. _"My Brother creates sculptures which I then give life. He must disassemble the mound of clay so I can fit it with a spirit. He said that was His last one, and it takes days for Him to make more. Neither of Us know how to get there without teleporting. I'm sorry to say that you are stuck here-"_

 _"Hold that thought."_ Herobrine said, interrupting Notch. _"I think I can still provide the body."_

 _"How?"_

 _"I can replicate my own if I concentrate. We can use that."_ He closed His eyes and began to glow the same colour as His eyes before Notch could protest. He then seemed to split, and the two Herobrines pulled apart. They stopped glowing white, and the one on the right opened His eyes. He staggered a bit before speaking, _"remind me to never do that again."_

Wither watched curiously. _"Why didn't you just do this?"_ He split into two smaller versions of Himself.

 _"Two reasons, Wither. One: We need a body without life, a new one that is just an appearance. Two: that skill belongs to you alone. Neither my Brother nor I can do that."_ Herobrine recovered quickly from His split.

 _"Strange, don't you think?"_ The Wither on the right asked His counterpart. _"Indeed."_ He replied.

Max walked over and ruffled both of Their hair*, making Them try to duck out of reach. What they weren't expecting was her foot to appear in front of Them. So They tripped over her outstretched leg. "Next time, ask before destroy." She scolded. They nodded before rejoining into a single Wither. She pulled Him up and dragged Him over to the wall she had been leaning against.

He watched as she closed her eyes to shield them from the blinding glare that began to come from the Two. The replica of Herobrine seemed to rip apart, while still holding together, almost like an afterimage of His eye. Something formed in Notch's hands, fizzing in and out of existence. Of course, it is very hard to describe something being created, but these are the words Wither would later use to tell Max what had happened. Obviously, she had no clue what He was talking about. Sadly, Wither's explanation was the best was to describe what was going on, if others had been there they would have said: "Gah! My eyes are burning!" because if anyone else had been there, they would be mortals, since all the living Gods were already there. And any hypothetical others would then have their eyes melted as no mortal can watch a living being be created.

When the light faded, Max opened her eyes. A man was laying on the ground, his eyes closed. He looked exactly like Herobrine, even wearing the same cyan shirt and purple-ish blue pants. He opened his eyes, which was the only difference between the mortal and God, while Herobrine's eyes shone white with His power, this new man had normal blue eyes. Max wondered what was with this guy and blue.

He seemed dazed, then when his eyes cleared he suddenly backed up quickly, startled at all the people. He bumped into Wither, who gave a cheeky wave, with frightened the man even more, causing him to fall to the ground and crawl backwards into a corner. _"W-who are you?"_ He asked, panicked.

Though all words sounded the same to her, Max could always tell is someone was speaking the language of the Gods by their voice _shivering,_ which was the only good way to explain it. So when this man's voice _shivered_ even though he was supposed to be a simple Minecrafter, Max looked to Notch for an explanation. But since Notch was busy trying to calm the newcomer down, so All answered instead.

 ** _They created Minecrafters originally with Their language,_** It said. **_What is the point of creating something when neither of you can understand each other? It was later that Minecrafters developed their own tongue._**

Max noted the explanation, then went back to studying Herobrine's duplicate. It appeared that Notch was successful in His mission of calming the man. Notch looked slightly uncomfortable with how much he resembled Herobrine, it must have been weird to have what seemed like Two brothers, when in reality, only one was related and the other He had just created to go to the end to save the Akroatis's dad so she won't have the Universe destroy His realm.

It seemed Herobrine was also a bit put off, but He spoke anyway. _"Do you have a name?"_ He asked His lookalike.

 _"I-I think so,"_ the man replied. _"My name is..._ " He thought for a moment, _"Steve."_

* * *

 ***Is that the way to grammar it? I can't tell and it is bugging me immensely***

 **Since I haven't updated in a while, have a longer chapter! Hehehe, I have thrown Steve into the mix. I want to see if any of you can guess why I just didn't make Notch give Max a compass. If anyone gets close to the truth, I will give them a shoutout next chapter.**


	12. Outside

**Shoutout to NotReallyAName for guessing the compass thing correctly!**

* * *

Steve was ecstatic, for the first time, fresh air filled his new lungs. This wouldn't be much of an accomplishment if it weren't for the fact that he had been created only an hour before. He hadn't even known that air unclogged by the breaths of hundreds of other people existed. As soon as the trio consisting of Steve, Max, and Wither stepped out of Notch's castle door, Steve had fallen in love with the outside. The blue sky, the green grass, the animals, the plants, all these things contributed to his new found desire to never go back inside.

He tried to rush into the open space, but staggered, his legs buckling. He still hadn't mastered walking, and was like a toddler in the way he stood unsteadily. His two new friends walked slower behind him, and he raced back and forth between a tree and them, falling to the ground a few times. He was excited to get to the place they were going. When he had awoken, there were only two thoughts in his head. The first thought was his name, Steve, the second thought was more of a longing, a direction deep inside his bones, coursing through his veins like blood. He laughed in delight as the wind playfully ruffled his brown hair, causing it to dance.

He ran back to his friends, and pulled on the blonde's hand so she would go faster. She seemed amused by his antics, and shooed him away. He raced ahead again, stopping to inspect a rock. His new friend's voices drifted towards him on the breeze.

 _"I don't like him._ " The grey one, Wither, said.

The blonde, Max, replied to Wither with something Steve only vaguely understood. When Max spoke in that strange primitive language, it sounded as though she took all grammar, mashed it to pieces, then chose the most simple words to speak. So to someone else it would sound like, "why would you say that, Wither! He can hear you!" But to Steve it sounded like: "Mean. Why?" though with a strange funny accent that butchered the language even further. The sounds of that language annoyed him to no end. And what was worse, (was that according to Max) everyone spoke like this! The thought of having to listen to the same insulting tongue for the rest of his life scared him. So he decided that wherever the longing was pulling him, he would stay there, since no one was supposed to live in the End except the Endermen and the Enderdragon, to his delight and chagrin, neither spoke. Delight that they could not assault his ears with that excuse for words, and chagrin because it would be very hard to invite them over for lunch if they could not communicate.

 _"He just annoys me. He doesn't think much of me either."_ That was true. Steve didn't like Wither, mostly because Wither scared him. The God had a strange feel about him that made Steve think He was unstable, crazy. No one else felt this except Steve, he supposed the reason for that was everyone one else was used to Wither's feel of insanity. Steve thought even Wither didn't realize this growing darkness inside Him, that or Steve was the crazy one.

Before Max could speak, the newly created Minecrafter rushed back and said, _"your language hurts my ears. Please stop."_ He then ran back in front of the small group.

Wither let out a burst of laughter that quickly died down. " _That is also why I don't like him. How can on be so childish, yet knowledgeable? It's unnatural."_

Steve looked back to see if they were still coming in time to spot the playful glare Max gave the God. _"Fine. We wouldn't want to offend his majesty's ears."_ She had raised her voice to make sure Steve heard the teasing. Her voice lowered, but Steve could still hear her words drift to him on the breeze. _"And you were like that when you were created, Wither. Yo_ _u knew things that are common knowledge, like what dirt is, or that monsters come out at night. But you had never seen it before. You had to experience it for_ yourself."

Wither grimaced, _"was it as unsettling as it is now?"_

Max didn't respond, but Steve was pretty sure she smiled.

 _"Hurry up! We have to travel over those!"_ Steve called back, pointing in front of himself. Wither groaned loudly, showing how much He disliked the idea of climbing over mountains while carrying ten heavy bags. Steve could see as Max shook her head at her friend, then reached for five of the bags. The God was very reluctant to give her any, which caused them to fight playfully. Playful for them at least, Steve didn't see how tripping someone, stealing everything they are carrying, and running ahead counts as being playful. But since Wither didn't do anything more than chase after her and take back the bags, Steve supposed it could be considered playful.

* * *

Max wheezed. She was fit, but not fit enough to withstand ten hours of walking uphill carrying five bags filled to the brim with what felt like rocks. All of them were tired, but she even more so seeing as one was a God and the only weight the other one withstood was his clothes, which were as light as four feathers.

Wither glanced at her worriedly every few minutes, regretting that He had given her half of his baggage after she had poked Him in His arm about a thousand times*. _"Why don't we rest for a bit?"_ He called up, being in the back.

Steve, still looking very energetic, ran ahead then raced back again, _"there's a cave we can rest in just around that corner,"_ he pointed. Around the corner they went, only to stop and stare at the very narrow one block wide path. Which the male Minecrafter was gleefully running across, paying no mind to the fact that only a few hours before he had difficulty walking. Max surveyed the edge, it was a sheer drop all the way down. If she fell, she would die, simple as that. She readjusted her bags so they wouldn't unsteady her, and started off confidently down the path. Wither followed close behind, which annoyed her, but she reasoned that if either one fell, the other could catch them.

Carefully placing her feet, she made it half-way across before Steve came bounding back, inpatient and wanting them to go faster. He grabbed her arm and pulled, just like he had been doing most of the trip when he grew inpatient, except the difference was that the other times they were not delicately perched above a 70 block fall. Max tripped over the edge, but managed to grab on to a outcropping rock, saving herself from certain death. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for her cargo. All five bags tumbled down the sheer drop, spilling their contents as they went. Wither frantically pulled her back up and carried her the rest of the way, despite her numerous protests.

Wither was about to destroy Steve for almost killing Max, but she stopped Him. Steve was a child, a child with the body of a man/God, but still a child. That's not to say she wasn't mad, of course she was mad, Steve had just about killed her. But she knew letting Wither kill their only guide to the End would be very counterproductive. Instead she settled for yelling at the poor Minecrafter.

She very creatively swore, mentioned multiple times how dumb it was to yank on someones arm on the edge of a cliff, lectured him about losing most their food, then finally decided to discover how much stuff they had actually lost. To her great dismay, she found that there was only one bag of food, able to last all three of them only a month, and the rest was blankets. She had no idea _why_ someone thought they would need four bags of blankets, but she decided that she hated them.

Max turned to Steve, who was still looking very dejected from her yelling session, and asked "how much longer will it take us to reach the End portal?" He made a face that she used such a monstrosity of a language, but wisely made no comment about simply looked to the entrance of the cave, his eyes unfocused, then said

 _"Three."_

 _"Three?"_ Wither asked, _"three what? Days, weeks, years?"_

Steve shrugged, not even knowing the complete answer himself.

* * *

 ***Never underestimate the power of pokes.***

 **Okay, I have something important to ask. Is anyone enjoying this? Is anyone awaiting the next update eagerly? 'Cause if not, then I see no reason to continue like this. Don't get me wrong, I won't abandon the story, but I see no reason to drag it on and throw so much care into it if no one enjoys. Instead I could be focusing on something else, maybe a new fic, or reading, or something outside the fanfic community altogether. What I'm asking is, is anyone enjoying the plot, the details, and the characters?**

 **I don't see a point in working on something so much only to have no one read or like it. This is not a desperate plea for reviews, though more would be nice, I just want to know if anyone cares enough for me to continue like this. If not, then the story will be less put together, I'll only pay great attention to the parts that I'm excited about, and the chapters will get even shorter than they are now.**

 **Yeesh, I sound like a whiny little baby, but seriously, I want to know.**


	13. Smashing Rocks

"What's _that?"_ Steve pointed at the horizon, where a village sat merrily ontop of rolling hills.

They had gotten over the mountains the day before with no other falling-to-death situations. Only stopping for five hours to sleep. That had left everyone feeling groggy and tired, even Wither felt that way to some degree, though He had the large advantage of being a God who almost never feels pain of any kind. This is the reason that as soon as Steve pointed out the small settlement, they headed towards it eagerly, hoping to get some rest and not have to sleep on a pile of rocks again, the only thing between them and the cold hard ground being ten blankets each. Seriously, if Max ever found out who sneaked about fifty blankets into their bags, she would strangle them.

 _I like that idea._

"Shut up." Max muttered, pulling herself up over a rock. Why did they have to choose the steepest path to the village? Yes, it had looked like a short cut, but with all the uneven ground, it was taking longer than if they just climbed the longest path instead.

 _Nah. Let's plot on how we'll make that person suffer. Hmm, maybe I could find a way to make their nose run for all eternity._

"I don't think boogers draining out of someone's nose is that evil. Are you getting soft on me?"

 _Who said anything about boogers? Well, other than you. I'm thinking we could rip their nose off, and have it run all around the world. That way the person has a giant hole in their face, and they have to smell the most dr_ e _a **dfu**_ **l** sc _ **e** nts_.

"Are you okay, All?" Max asked, instantly worried. Its voice had changed a bit at the end of that last sentence, almost echoing through Max's ears. She had gotten over her anger with It forcing Ender to be evil, even if she were still annoyed, because she had more important things to worry about, such as her supposed father dying back at Notch's castle. Besides, she still cared about All's wellbeing, though she hated to show it. It was a very strange feeling to be angry with something and care greatly for it at the same time, Max discovered.

 _T_ h _O **u** Gh Sh **e** _ i _S_ d _eAd, **i** T's **S** tI_ll _O_ f **f** _witH **My** HeAd._

"All?" Max shook her own head to clear the ringing words from her mind, but they kept repeating themselves in the background of her thoughts. Wither, always vigilant when it came to Max, noticed her worry and worked His way towards her to see if He could help with anything. Young as He was, He didn't yet know that there were things that even Gods could not fix.

 _You've seen them, haven't you?_ All said, almost breathlessly. Which led Max to wonder if the universe had to breathe. _The Mods?_

"Mods?" She was so engrossed in this odd conversation, that she didn't see when Wither came up behind her, so punched at Him when He touched her shoulder. "Sorry, Wither. Reflexes," was all the explanation she gave the God, knowing He would understand. He picked her up bridal-style so she could focus on her conversation, and they could still reach the small village by nightfall.

 **Monsters of Dimensions.** All explained, and Max now knew exactly where Wither got His monster acronym skills from. Not that it was ever much of a question. **Beings created by neither Me, nor my children. The Mods are spawned from the Rift.**

"Rift? And, woah, You're talking to me with two versions and You're not fighting? What?"

 ** _Knowledge of the Rift is locked inside your father's head, which is why it is so important for you to save him.  
_** _Now isn't the time to fight if you are to survive._

"You? Wait, me? Stop being vague and tell me what the Nether is going on, right now!"

 _"Hi, Max!"_ Steve said cheerfully as Wither passed him. _"Bye, Max!"_

After a quick glare from Max that said "don't you dare leave him behind," Wither groaned and turned around. He set His friend down and morphed into a larger version of a strange looking cow they had seen jumping around in the mountains. _"Euh oon,"_ He said, His odd, almost beak-like mouth morphing His words into something completely unintelligible. Somehow Max understood that jumble of nonsense enough to climb onto His back and pull Steve up with her. As soon as she grabbed the horn-things coming out of His head, He was off, gracefully leaping from block to block. They were now traveling easily more than double the speed they had been going before. With luck, they would reach the village in under half an hour.

 _Your father has traveled forwards in time to replace Ender._

"Okay, what?" Max ignored the look Steve made when he heard her use "that monstrosity of a language". Apparently he hadn't been created with any manners, much to Max's chargin. Yes, Max wasn't the nicest person in the world either, but she knew not to continuesly insult someone she didn't dislike.

 ** _I don't understand it much either. Ender was erased from existence, leaving behind a gap, an absense that only she could fill._**

"Still not making sense."

 **Imagine a rock, you can smash that rock over and over until it turns to sand, and then you can break the sand down into even smaller bits, but it is never gone. The rock is still there, but in a different form. Nothing can be comepletely destroyed naturally, it can only get smaller.  
** _Your idiot of father was of the closest mass to Ender and held the most of Her mark just after your mother became pregnent with you. So I brought him forward._

"Okay, rock, smashing, I understand that. But what the tree-in-a-hole do You mean he had the most of Ender's 'mark'? And, wait- You brought him _forward_?"

 _Calm down, it's not that bad, you wimp. I believe your boyfriend told you about the mark. He explained it as though it were colours.  
_ _ **The mark of a being is not only gained through creation, but of distance. Your family were the Caretakers of Ender, so of course they were marked with Her essence. Gods are powerful beings, but They cannot always keep that power contained, so it leaks out into the world around Them. Thus, you are marked with the colours of your creators, the Two, and Wither, the one you spend most time with.  
**_ **C** **harlie was a Caretaker by birth, your mother married into being a Caretaker. So, though your mother was perhaps the almost exact size of Ender, your father had spent more time with the Goddess, therefore giving him more of Her mark. As for bringing him here, that was not purposeful, mearly a reaction of self-preservation.**

Max felt anger bubbling inside her, then she shook her head to clear it away. It was All's fault she had grown up without parents, but everything was All's fault, and it would do no good to worry herself with something that, as much as she wished, could never be changed. "Ender died four years ago," Max said to inturrupt her thoughts before she went insane. "Why did Charlie only appear recently?"

 _You try pulling someone from the past into the present. Much harder than it sounds. Because of the Rift, we're lucky I even managed to place him in this centrery, nevermind placing him right next to your hiding spot. Too bad your boyfriend hit him with a spade. It had just been getting interesting._

* * *

"For the last time, He is not my boyfriend!" Max yelled to the air, startling Wither. He had been midleap when the outburst came from her mouth, she had been speaking quitely for the mostpart, so this sudden shout had surprised Him, almost making Him miss the rock. Steve almost fell off, but they didn't tumble down the path back down to the ground below.

 _"Are you okay, Max?"_ Wither tried to ask, but instead what came out was: _"euh ook ax?"_ So, as expected, He didn't get a response.

He leaped onto another rock jutting upwards, so He had to balance Himself pecariously to keep from falling. They were almost to the village, just a few more blocks. That half-hour had passed surpriseingly quickly. But He was sure Steve was getting bored because He kept feeling the new Minecrafter poke at the fine hairs covering Wither's current form, and sometimes even yanking them from His skin.

He really didn't like Steve. Why? He had no idea. Maybe it was something about how he insulted Max. Or how he was so restless, even when asleep. Maybe it was how the man looked so much like Herobrine. Wither didn't like Herobrine either. Actually, He didn't like anyone. Except for Max, of course.

Another thing He didn't know: why had He stuck around with Max for so long? Even when she had begun to throw sharp things He had stayed. She obviously wanted to be alone. Perhaps it was because He too, was alone. As He disliked everyone, everyone, in turn, disliked Him. Most disliked Him because He was Ender's supposed "replacement" to keep the universe from dying. They thought He would turn evil, take over, torture and kill just for fun. He honestly wasn't sure of that Himself. He didn't feel evil, not one bit, but the thoughts of ridding one from their life didn't bother Him as much as it would other people. Some didn't like Him just because He exsited, owning power that they think would be better off in other's hands.

He finally reached the top of the hill. He sat down awkwardly so His passengers could slide from His back to the ground. Which they gladly did. Oddly, this form had a very strong, very unpleasant scent. But perhaps that was because Wither had spent the last half hour jumping on dusty rocks after climbing over a mountain the day before. Add onto the fact that He hadn't had anything close to a bath since the lake. That had seemed like a million years ago, but in reality it was only six...days...ago...

With a start, Wither realized it was His best friend's birthday.

And with dread, Wither realized He hadn't finished her present yet.

At least He had created the main essence. Now He just needed an object to place it in. He needed to find an excuse to leave their small group for ten minutes. He needed only ten minutes to create an object worthy not only to hold the life changing gift He held hidden in His reservoir of power, but to give to His only friend. Though, if worst came to to worst, He could always find an especially beautiful rock and gift it to Max.

* * *

 **Yes! I am now very happy that I don't have to tone back the effort. Especially since we're now getting into the Lead up plot. Lead up to what? Let's just say the End. Of this series, and this fic. On that note, there will possibly be two - five more chapters, but fear not! I have two more instalments planned out for the series.**

 **What do you people think Max's present is?**

Guest:

 **Glad you like it! And I am. There is now no need to worry about me stopping.**

NotReallyAName:

 **Thank you for that, really. I honestly almost cried. That's the first time anyone has said anything like that about my writing, and so I don't know how to respond other than saying "Thank you." But, yes. You got the compass thing right! I've given you a shoutout on the last chapter by using the magic of editing!**


	14. Happy Birthday

The group trudged towards the village slowly, their feet becoming sore from the non-stop travel. Thankfully, they had been smart enough to leave behind all four of the blanket filled bags, but brought the one filled with food. Because, honestly, how could they leave behind a whole bag filled with perfectly good food?

The small settlement was only twenty blocks away from the "shortcut" they had come up from, so the walk there only took about ten seconds.

Wither could see as Max became uneasy, but He couldn't tell why. He did notice, however, her holding Kreaya's hilt tightly. He looked around to see what made her feel so threatened but saw nothing out of the ordinary. People were walking around, running stalls, buying things, falling over because the things they bought were too heavy to carry, falling over again because they tripped over children rushing through the streets, yelling at said children to slow down and that they're gonna kill somebody. From what Wither could tell, this was perfectly normal.

But why was Max so tense?

Ten minutes and an...odd conversation later, He found out. This conversation, began like this:

"Hello, beautiful." A very short, overconfident brunette said when the group walked past.

Max glanced at him dismissively, then did a double take in shock. She stared at the young man for a moment, evidently making him uncomfortable as his eyes swept over her companions so he would not need to look at her odd stare that was filled with amusement and...was that anger? Either the small man was too intimidated by Max's almost glare, or he thought Wither just had weird eyes, so he didn't react to the swirling grey.

"Cartsin," Max muttered to herself incredulously.

"How do you know my name?" Cartsin backed up, fearing the vengeful look in her eyes. This was, surely, not what he imagined his flirting attempt would lead to. But his question was something Wither was curious about. How did Max know this man's name?

"I also know you have two younger brothers, Phil and Tirink. Correct? You're the runt of the family and your brothers only listen to you because that's just the way it has always been. Since their birth you brainwashed them into always following your 'orders'. You then terrorized the other children, but one in particular."

Cartsin's eyes widened in realization. "M-Mental Max?" he stuttered. "B-but you're dead! We all saw you being carried off by that scary lady!"

"Guess what, Cartsin. I'm alive. And I think I may be more terrifying than that 'scary lady'." Max disappeared, but only for a moment, and then she was right behind Cartsin. He didn't notice her until she whispered in his ear. "Wouldn't you agree?"

"Gah!" He tripped forwards in an attempt to get away from her, but instead he just face planted into the dusty ground. He quickly scrambled to his feet and ran as fast as he could away from "Mental Max".

As soon as he was out of sight both Wither and Max burst out laughing. Steve stood off to the side looking very confused, and eventually just wandered away to look at all the shiny things.

Their laughter died down enough for Wither to ask: _"How do you know that kid?"_ But every other word was almost unintellageable from His gasps of air.

"H-he used to bully me." People were beginning to looked at them funny. Apparently someone making a weird laughing snort noise for no visible reason, was not normal. "Payback is sweet. That teleport was worth just the look on his face."

 _"And did you hear the noise he made? He sounded like a cross between a pig and a cow!"_ More laughter ensued.

After a few minutes, they calmed down. Which Wither was not happy with seeing as Max got another odd look on her face. Then she ran away. _"Wha- ! Max! Where are you going?"_

He shrugged. She had Kreaya and could take care of herself. She'd be fine, He was sure of it.

But this presented an excellent opportunity to make Max's gift. He already had an object in mind, and He knew what to make it of.

A second later He was in the Nether. Max had taken Him there the year before to see if ghasts could be ridden. That adventure, as expected, had ended abruptly when the ghast they were on did a flip over a pool of lava. Only Wither's quick thinking and ability to morph saved Max from a painful death, and Him from firey pain. He quickly snatched some quartz from the netherrack wall, and teleported away. The only sign of Him being there was an actual sign next to the wall that said:

haha

mine now

Not very clever, but it amused the God all the same. As soon as He returned to the Overworld, He got to work. Hiding behind a house and next to a torch so no one would think anything of the light they saw coming from that area, He began to create. He held the Quartz in His hands and started to shape it, letting His power slowly trickle into the object. He formed it into a four pointed star, then pulled some light from the torch to make it glow as an actual star would. The torch died as its life was pulled into the object.

He studied the star. And finally deemed it worthy for His gift*.

Pulling the power from Himself and putting it into the gift made both Him and the star glow brightly. The light died down and it was finished.

He grinned at the shining Star. If He had made it correctly, it would grant Max something akin to eternal life. That was, if she wanted it. She could just use the Star as a shiny useless bobble. Or even wear it as a necklace. At that thought, Wither pulled a silver chain from the air and wrapped the Star in it. After many failed attempts He finally managed to keep the Star in the chains instead of having it fall to the ground. Perfect.

Now He just had to find Max.

Whom He quickly found was in the house He was hiding behind. Luckily though, she hadn't investigated the increase of light. In fact, when Wither rejoined her she was far from a window. In fact, she was next to some old dude's bed, holding his hand, listening to his shallow breaths.

"Hi, Wither," she said when she noticed Him. She sounded almost...sad. Which alarmed Wither to no end. He had seen her mad, happy, annoyed, embarrassed, curious, and all other sorts of emotions. But she was never sad. Not that He could see, at least. When Max was sad, she was also most likely angry. And her anger had a tendency to burst through all her other feelings like an efficiency five enchanted diamond pickax would burst through stone.

 _"Are you okay, Max?"_ He asked, His worry evident in His voice.

The old man's eyes opened slightly, and upon spotting Wither, gave a small, quiet chuckle. "I told you you would make a friend someday, Max," he said. "I just didn't expect that friend to be a God."

"Neither did I, uncle." She gave the man a small smile.

Wither stepped forwards, making the floor creak which in turn made it bend enough for Kreaya to slip from its resting place next to Max's leg, down to the floor. She released her uncle's hand to pick it up again, which gave the old man a clear view of her left hand. Or, should it be said, her lack of a left hand.

"Max!" He somehow managed to find the strength to grab her stump with both of his hands. "W-what happened? Are you okay?"

Kreaya now safely by her side once again, she placed her one hand ontop his two. "Yes, uncle. I'm fine. Really. And it's a long story. Just know that I'm okay now. Don't worry."

"It's my job to worry about you. To take care of you. Looks like I didn't do a very good job at that, though." He gave another chuckle, but it sounded unhappy. Almost as though he regretted something.

"Shh. No, you did a wonderful job."

Wither, sensing that this was someone important to her, pulled an item from the air as they continued to converse.

"Uncle, I have a question."

"Ask away."

"What was my father's name?"

Wither stepped behind Max, the item in His hand as He prepared to drop it.

"I-" her uncle said, obviously caught off guard by the unexpected inquiry. "His name was Charles. But he hated that name as soon as he turned twelve. I could never figure out why, until he introduced me to your mother. Apparently she miss heard him when he told her his name, so she called him Charlie. Well, he liked it so much he changed his. Gave me a few bruises every time I teased him about it, but it was all fun and games. He was actually a really sweet guy." He got a faraway look in his eyes, and Wither could tell he was rembeeing something that happened far in the past. A good memory, if his small smile was anything to go by.

Max gave a small intake of breath, which was when Wither dropped the item onto the old Minecrafter's stomach.

He gave a small "oof" when the cake landed on him. Max whirled around without looking at what Wither had seemingly assaulted her uncle with, ready to attack.

 _"Happy Birthday!"_ He shouted, startling her and making her stumble back in surprise. He grabbed her to keep her from falling onto the cake He had dropped onto her uncle's lap.

Max's uncle was laughing hoarsely at the spectacle. "Happy birthday indeed, Max."

"What?" Evidently, Max had once again forgotten her birthday. "Wait, oh."

 _"I got you a present!_ " Wither handed the gift to His best friend.

She puzzeled over the glow of the object, but she seemed to like it anyway. She gave Him a smile and said: "Thanks, Wither."

 _"Nope! You're not allowed to thank me yet! You don't even know what it does!"_

"You mean it does something other than glow?" she teased Him.

 _"Yep! Don't do anything until I tell you the full extent of it, though."_ He said. He wanted Max to know what it did before she did something she would regret. Wither knew her well enough to know that she would immediately try to use it on her uncle. But if she did that, she would doom him to and eternity of sadness. _"Promise me."_

She gave Him an odd look at His request, but relented. "Okay, then. I promise."

He grabbed the Star from her and placed the chain gently around her neck. _"I made the Star from quartz that I borrowed from the Nether. I gave it the life of a torch so that it will glow like a real star. It looks pretty, but that's not what I've spent months working on,"_ He said. _"I call it Respawn. If you prick yourself with it, then you'll stay the same age as when you're pricked forever. And if you die, you'll just wake up on your bed. You have to want it to work when you prick yourself, so don't worry about accidentally poking yourself. If you don't want to live forever, then just don't prick yourself and use it as a necklace."_

He beamed at her. She stared in shock at Him.

"You two are an adorable couple," Max's uncle said after a moment.

They both blushed. Wither wondered why His cheeks felt warm while Max said "We're not a couple."

The rest of the day was spent eating cake and laughing.

* * *

 ***I almost died when autocorrect tried to turn this into "Girlfriend" apparently a computer program ships Max and Wither XD***

 **NotReallyAName, Guest, and Starrysky789, you all got it right, to an extent. And I've brought Barcubus back!**

 **Though this is late, Happy Halloween! If you went, what did you go as? I was a zombie bride. Or the mistress of the night. Whichevers cooler. And again, though this is late, Happy birthday to my youngest sister! She turned eight on November 1st. And Happy belated/early birthday to everyone else!**

NotReallyAName:

 **Yeah, that could go on forever. So I'm going to stop it with this thank you. Thank you! Your review is very much appreciated, it made me smile as soon as I saw the notification in my email. And I didn't know what was going to be the object until you reviewed, so yay! Here's another acronym for "mod": Many Oranges Dance. Does it make sense? No. Is it amusing? I think so.**

Guest:

 **It probably would've. And yes, something like a hand replacement machine, except it replaces her whole body when she dies. Thanks for the review!**

Starrysky789:

 **Definitely magic. Thank you so much! That makes me really happy!**


	15. Eh

Barcubus sat at the one window in his home, watching his niece leave, knowing that it would perhaps be the last time he would see her. Not that he thought she would die. No, she was too stubborn to die when something needed to be done. But that he would. He was old and his heart had been having problems lately. He had already accepted his fate, maybe he would finally see his brother again.

The old man watched as his niece's companions jumped all around her, as hyper as small children. But from what he could deduce, that's what the grey God was. Now, the man that looked like the Forgotten, Barcubus wasn't sure what was up with him. Max hadn't really explained much to him other than they were traveling to the End for... something before Wither had entered the room and thrown cake onto the old man.

He kept an eye on the God. If what the rumors said were true, then Ender had died and Wither was her replacement. Which meant He leaned towards evil, which also meant He would possibly pose a threat to not only Max, but everyone, and everything, He encountered. But Barcubus saw how much the God adored Max, almost like a puppy adored its master. Though a puppy untrained could lead to a dangerous misbehaving guard dog.

* * *

Max was sad to leave her uncle. She hadn't seen him since she was first kidnapped by Ender seven years ago. She couldn't believe that was how long it had been. It took only seven years for her to realize (i.e., have All shove Itself into her mind) that she was an Akroatis, kill Ender and Herobrine, defeat Ender (if Ender turning into a cow and purposely falling off a cliff was "defeating") after She had possessed Herobrine, meet Wither, become friends with Wither, find her father she believed to be dead, have her father poisoned, witness a Minecrafter be created (even if she had to look away and close her eyes), and then finally return home to her uncle.

How had so many things happened in so little time? Or was it so little things happened in too much time? Max wasn't sure. She just knew that she would need to visit her uncle again soon, he was actually the only mortal she liked. No, wait, there was still Charlie, but she didn't know him well enough yet to say if she liked him or not.

She glanced downwards at the Star swinging from her neck with her footsteps. Once again, Wither had insisted on carrying their supplies, though He had somehow squeezed a month's worth of supplies for three people into one bag. But she wasn't in the mood to argue with Him, so let Him have His way with the items.

Maybe she should use the gift? Barcubus would die before her anyway, though the thought made her sad, it was the truth. Charlie was also older than her, so unless she randomly died from whatever could kill her, he would also be the one to go first. And her only friends were Gods. Nether, even her enemies were Gods!

 _'The one person in the entire universe,'_ she thought to herself, ' _and it's me._ I _am born into the Caretaker family._ I _am an Akroatis._ I _have a God for a best friend._ I _live in a Nether pig snot tree!_ I... _I can never be normal.'_

Max squeezed her eyes shut, still walking, and just listened to the soft crunch of the grass under her and her companion's feet.

 _'Four things that could have gone to other people and everything still would've worked out.'_ She disregarded the last thought about not being normal. Who wanted to be normal anyway? All the 'normal' people she had met had been the worst type of dirt under the void. Why would she want to be like them? And yet... she felt an odd yearning to be so. To have people to laugh with. To have a family that she loved and that loved her back. To-

 _"Wither says that yesterday was your birthday, so I mined you this!"_ Steve's voice said from somewhere to her right.

Max opened her eyes and saw him holding out a green object to her. Grateful for the interruption to her depressing thoughts, she took it and studied it. _"It's called an_ emerald," Steve cheerily said. _"Those nice villagers showed me how to mine, and I found it! And now it's yours because I didn't get you anything else."_

Max laughed to herself softly as Steve raced back in front of the group. That Minecrafter couldn't stay still if his life depended on it. She walked up to Wither. "You set him up to that, didn't you?" she accused teasingly.

He smiled at her. _"Maybe,"_ was the response.

"Pfft, no 'maybe' about it," she replied.

 _"Maybe."_

Max punched him in the arm, laughing at His antics. Wither made a face at her.

* * *

It was now dark and they had been traveling all day. Finally Wither called a stop, noticing the Minecrafters begin to tire, not that either of them would admit it, Max because of pride and Steve just because he liked traveling and hated when they stopped. The God dropped their supplies onto the ground and started setting up camp right there out in the middle of a plains biome where they could easily be seen. Yeah, maybe not the best idea, but He did it anyway.

After a while, Max lay down to sleep, now finished her dinner that consisted of a couple pieces of bread. Steve was already snoring and fidgeting few blocks over as he slept. Wither wasn't feeling tired and since he didn't necessarily need sleep He stayed awake most of the night, listening to the Mobs as they crept around the area. Only once did a zombie come near, and Wither was pretty sure He dealt with that perfectly by turning it into...something. What was it?

It grunted at him, its hands interlocked in front of it. A robe of brown fell from its shoulders down to its feet. But there where two things that really stuck out to Wither: it had a really big nose, and a really big forehead.

 _"Er- Max?"_ He shook her gently to wake her up. _"I may have done something."_

"Whith..." she mumbled. "Go 'way... Shleeping."

 _"Yeah, I know you are, but I don't know if this is a good something or a bad something."_

She rolled over with her eyes half closed and looked at him. "You're a fuzzy ball of grey," she muttered, still partly asleep. "Wha'chu wan', fuzzy Whith?"

 _"Come on, Max, wake up."_ He shook her again. The new creature was approaching and He didn't know if it was going to attack and eat them all or if it was going to turn into a fishing rod.

Max's eyes opened even more as she was pulled from the land of dreams, her face already forming a glare. "Wither, why am I awake?" she asked Him, thoroughly annoyed.

Wither simply pointed behind him at the creature.

"Gah!" she yelped when she spotted it. She jumped up and grabbed Kreaya, holding it threateningly towards the creature, which looked calm, as though it had no idea what was going on. "Where did that thing come from?"

 _"Well, it kinda used to be a zombie. And then I may or may not of turned it into this,"_ He said sheepishly.

"Does it want to hurt us?" she asked.

 _"How am I supposed to know?"_

"You created the Nether slobbered thing!"

 _"So?"_

Max paused for a moment as though she were listening. "All says that you control generally what it does. Want it to be evil? It's evil. Want it to be good? It's good. But when you leave it alone it will revert back to the state of being it was when created."

Wither looked at the thing and it looked back. _"I think it's dumb, for one thing. But it could possibly be evil."_

"Eh," it grunted at them.

* * *

 **Hello people! So very sorry it's taken me this long to update. Now for my excuses! I had writers' block when I finished Max's pov, and I didn't want the story to progress too fast. I also lost my plot. I have it written down on a piece of paper and I lost it (I knew where it was actually, I was just being extremely lazy). On a slightly different note, there will be about three more chapters, and these will be exciting! (Unless I fail, which I am known to do.) But I'm rambling and I'm sure you people would much rather read those chapters than hear me talk about them.**

 **Who is your favourite character? I write them, so I can't really say.**

NotReallyAName:

 **And know that you are thanked, too.** **'Tis okay, your stuff is probably already done because this chapter took so long. That's awesome! She thanks you. It's okay. Max and Wither's relationship is more one-sided right now and I am not good at writing romance, so you saying that doesn't surprise me. That's a good question, I think I covered it this chapter but I will explain more (go ahead and just ignore this part of the response if you don't want to hear it): Max isn't really bothered by it. To her, Minecrafters are all giant jerks who would love to see her die. So it's not the fact that there is no friends that are her own species, more so that she cannot have the happiness they share with each other.**


	16. So Close

Steve was dreaming. At least, he thought he was. He didn't think that people turned into floating dark air that then tried to kill him. But he didn't know and had no way to tell. Heck, Max and Wither may have actually turned into dark air and decided to kill him for all he knew.

He ran through a forest, not sure where he was going, but positive he had to escape those...things chasing him. One of the creatures screeched at his back, sounding angry that their prey was evading them. He ran faster but didn't speed up as was the nature of most dreams and nightmares.

Steve saw a house that sat upon a hill in the distance, a house made of material he had never seen before, but he knew to be End stone and obsidian. He ran towards the house, hoping it would bring sanctuary from these monsters.

Fifty blocks.

He reached a set of stairs leading to the top of the hill. The stairs were smooth and pale white and sloped upwards in a odd fashion that should've made them unusable.

Forty blocks.

Why did the hill keep getting larger?

Thirty blocks.

The once small hill was now a large mountain.

Twenty blocks.

Steve was tiring. His normally boundless energy was fading.

Ten blocks.

Almost there!

Five blocks.

 _"No!"_ Steve cried out when a creature grabbed his leg. He kicked at it as he reached forward, so close, his fingers inches from the door. Inches from safety.

The monster hissed at him, it's hand burning into his leg. It laughed, and as it did so, began to morph. It took on the shape of a Minecrafter, but only the shape. Everything else about it was wrong. Until its face changed into that of a woman's. He couldn't see her eyes as they were covered by dark strands of long black hair. She laughed manically at his futile attempts to escape her grasp. More monsters surrounded them, the house getting farther and farther away. The monsters seeming to also laugh and chuckle, but in a more screeching manner. They reached for him as they closed in, their arms black wisps of burning cold.

 _"You can't escape, Steve!"_ The woman began to giggle crazily. _"No one can escape their fate!"_

* * *

 _"Gah!"_ Steve yelled when he woke up, interrupting Max and Wither's conversation. He shivered, covered in sweat that the cold wind made all too noticeable. He breathed heavily for a moment, calming down. He screamed again when he noticed that... _thing_ watching him.

He stood quickly and held out his iron pickaxe before him in a way he hoped would be threatening.

 _"Calm down, Steve,"_ Max told him. _"We think it's harmless."_

 _"Think isn't the same as is. What is it?"_ he asked warily.

 _"We're not sure,"_ she glanced at Wither whom was sitting across from her. _"Wither made it, though."_

Steve also looked at the God. _"What? You can do that?"_

 _"Of course I can,"_ Wither said, sounding annoyed that His powers were in question. _"I can multiply myself, I can pull things from the air, and I'm immortal. You seriously thought that I couldn't turn a zombie into...this."_ He pointed at the creature.

 _"That used to be a zombie?"_

 _"Yes it was,"_ Max answered for Wither. _"Now we just need to figure out what to do with it."_

 _"Why not give it to the villagers?"_ Steve asked. _"It doesn't look like it can survive on its own, and I don't think there's any other villages in this area."_

 _"I don't know,"_ Max said, sounding unsure. _"We don't know how it would react to th-"_

Wither appeared to the left of her.

"What do?" she asked Him, sounding very annoyed, evident by the way she had changed her language.

 _"I got rid of the creature,"_ Wither replied.

"Put?"

 _"Does is matter?"_

"Wither," she warned, obviously not in the mood for His attitude.

 _"I just teleported it to the village and told them not to kill it."_

Max groaned in frustration but didn't say anything else.

* * *

The sun was setting when Steve abruptly stopped walking. He stood there and stared at the ground as Max and Wither caught up to him. He felt he was being dragged into the ground. No, he _wanted_ to be dragged into the ground, he longed to go down there. _"What's wrong, Steve?"_ Max asked as she approached him, startling him from the trance-like state he had entered.

 _"We need to go down,"_ was all he said. He sat and continued to stare at the grass, then began to dig. Slowly at first, his hands scratching the surface of the dirt, then faster and faster, scraping away the dirt as though his life depended on it. No, his life was too insignificant compared to his need to reach his destination. It was as though the whole world depended on it! He reached stone within a few minutes, at that point he took out his iron pickaxe and began to swing it frantically at the was vaguely aware of Wither and Max standing off to the side, alarmed at his behaviour. But he didn't care. As long as he reached the End he didn't care! That was what he _needed_ to do. The entire reason he lived! He had to get there. It was so close, he could feel it. It beckoned him with open arms, pulling at him harder the closer he grew. It called to him, told him that he was so very near. He was reminded of his dream, the house made of End materials and how he had almost made it, only to be pulled away. The memory made him dig faster.

Steve lost track of time as he dug, his arms swinging up and down to an unheard beat, the pickaxe chipping of pieces of rock that turned to cobblestone as the blocks broke.

He could've been digging for days, mere hours, or even years, he couldn't tell. The only thing that existed was the tug of the End, his longing to get there, and the destroying of blocks.

He stopped when he fell through the floor, a surprised grunt escaping him when he hit the floor. Luckily he had only fallen about three blocks. Unluckily the ground was made of stone, not a very good thing to land on. He groaned as he sat up, rubbing his back. He was in a stone brick hallway, soft light filtering through the hole he had entered through. It was enough to illuminate four blocks around him, clearly, but the passage on either side quickly gave way to darkness. Steve was unable to see anything into that nothingness, but the longing was dragging at him, telling him to go left.

Wither's face peered at Steve from the hole in the ceiling, blocking out most of the light and covering Steve in darkness. _"Are you alive?"_ the God asked, sounding curious.

 _"Yes,"_ Steve answered, blinking up at him. Light poured down around Wither's head, but couldn't reach His face, turning Him into a black silhouette.

Wither disappeared for a moment, and then reappeared, but this time with Max. No doubt He had climbed down to see what had happened, and then teleported up to grab the female Minecrafter before teleporting once more.

Wither jumped down and caught Max when she fell through the hole. She looked uneasy at the darkness that loomed on either side, though Steve couldn't see why. It was just dark, and the dark can't hurt you.

 _"This way,_ " Steve said, standing and heading for the left tunnel, feeling himself being dragged in that direction. Wither followed him and after a bit of hesitation, Max did as well.

* * *

 **NOTE: I will be changing my name within the month. The reason is I essentially stole a website's name without realizing it and I want to be original. So if you find this story by searching my name, you should just search for the story itself until I actually change my name.**

 **There! This took a while because I was writing so many other things because ideas like to sit in my head and eventually that gets uncomfortable.**

 **Has Half-winter (some of you may call this "Autumn"), left yet and the coldness that is true Winter come yet? It has for me and I am freezing my toes off in a large and poofy blanket.**

NotReallyAName:

 **If I had to pick favourites, those two would be it. The thought of a** **mischievous all-powerful being is pretty fun. Do not worry, I understand the power of YouTube and sleepiness. They are almost as powerful as All Itself. It may or may not have been foreshadowing, but you should keep in mind that I enjoy confusing people with useless information that has a single spark of important. He made a testificate/villager from a zombie, my thought is that when a villager is turned back into a zombie it's eyes turn red. Something like that. I try! XD (I may or may not have done that)**

.dawnstar:

 **Thank you for that! That made me very happy!**


	17. Sorry

Max was not at all fond of the dark. Shadows jumped out at her as they walked down the stone brick hall, laughing at her fright. Voices drifted just beyond her hearing, not even real. She walked close to Wither, or, where she thought Wither to be. She hated herself for this weakness, but she couldn't help it. Ender had ruined her relationship with the dark, and she hadn't been too keen on it before, either.

Max kept one hand on the wall to make sure she wouldn't get turned around, following the sound of Steve's footsteps as he confidently walked forwards, undeterred. She tripped, but her hand on the wall helped her recover quickly. It was getting hard to tell where the noises of her companions' footsteps were coming from in the never ending black that utterly destroyed Max's sense of direction. She kept walking, ears strained to make sure Steve and Wither were still there and she wasn't just walking alone with their footsteps echoing to her from somewhere else.

Her skin crawled, she felt like she was being watched. She swatted at herself where it began to feel like bugs were tapping over her flesh, though she knew nothing was truly there. Then something _real_ tapped her shoulder. Max yelped and instinctively punched at it, not even sure if she was aiming in the right direction. Her fist was gently caught and she tried to squirm away, alarmed because she didn't know what it was and it could see and she couldn't. _"Woah. Max, calm down,"_ Wither's voice said as the grip on her hand was released, she stumbled backwards, hitting the wall. _"It's just me."_

Max realized that the tapping noise from her companions had stopped, except for a soft sound that was probably Steve being inpatient, and unable to stand still. A slight pressure on her shoulder told her that Wither was holding it to steady her. _"Are you okay?"_ He questioned, His tone worried.

Max shrugged His hand off, trying to steel herself against the dark. "Yeah, I'm fine," she assured Him.

 _"Really?"_ He asked, sounding as though He didn't believe her. _"I saw you stumbling around and swatting at your skin randomly. I wouldn't say tha-"_

"Wait," Max interrupted Him. "You _saw?"_

 _"Yes. I do have eyes."_

"Wither, it's pitch black in here! Unless... for the love of All, _please_ tell me I'm not going blind."

 _ **You're not. Wither can simply see in the dark.**_

"I wasn't talking to you!" Max snapped.

 _"Who? Me? What did I do?"_ Wither asked, sounding confused.

"Not you."

 ** _Me?_**

"No! Er- yes! All, shut up, go away, you're annoying. Wither-"

 _"Ah, voices in your head. Got it."_

"No, I don't have voices in my head! It's just- You know what? You can shut up, too," Max told Him. It was frustrating to hold two conversations at once where one person didn't even know what the other was saying. "Steve, how much farther?"

 _"An hour or two more if we go at the same pace as before,"_ the other Minecrafter answered. He sounded annoyed that they had stopped.

Max started walking in the direction she heard his voice. "Let's hurry up, then. I don't want to be in here all day." Wither followed her, she could almost feel His concerned gaze drilling into her back. "You can stop looking at me as though I'm going to have a panic attack, Wither."

 _"But-"_

"I'm fine. I'm just not fond of the dark. Now, stop it," she said coldly.

They continued on in silence, Max fuming quietly. She knew she was being harsh, but the dark was making her uneasy. She'd probably apologize to Wither, later.

* * *

After quite a while had passed, Steve abruptly stopped. Max's eyes had adjusted, but the only light came from Wither's eyes (which, Max was startled to discover, glowed faintly), so she still couldn't see much ahead of her. _"We're here,"_ he whispered quietly, voice full of awe. The only reason Max could hear him was because of her being an Akroatis, and even then it was difficult to make out the Minecrafter's words.

Walking forwards, Max could see Steve had a hand placed delicately on a stone brick wall in front of them, his eyes wide with wonder. Then his face flashed with fear and he took out his pickaxe, swinging violently at the barricade. _"So close,"_ she heard him mutter. _"So very close. I won't let it be taken away from me. I won't."_

Within a few minutes, a hole in the wall had appeared, leading to a room with a raised alter in the centre of the room, a hallway at the other side that was too dark to distinguish where it went. It was brighter in the room due to decorative lava pools in the corners. Steve climbed the stairs that led up to the alter, but Max couldn't see what it looked like, so she followed him curiously despite Wither's warning look.

The alter was a three by three square of blocks, the type of block wasn't familiar to Max. There was odd looking Enderpearls slotted into the blocks, but one had fallen out, most likely due to a mob moving around in the room. The item had long since been destroyed by time, so now they had no way to reach the End.

"No," Max whispered, tone filled with disbelief when she realized what that meant. Charlie was going to die. She was never going to be able to have a real family. She was never going to find out what the Nether a "Rift" was. And monsters would continue to invade until one too strong for them to defeat appeared. Her _father_ was going to _die._ True, she didn't know him very well, but there was the wish to, to bond with someone she was related to, who would care for her, and laugh with her, and... And she would never get to do all those things that "normal" people who didn't have the voice of the Nether-loving-End _Universe_ in their head did! She felt herself lower, sinking to her knees in despair as she blinked back tears. A part of her hated herself right now for showing such weakness, but the rest of her was mourning the life that would die back at Notch's castle.

She looked to Wither after she had composed herself enough that she wouldn't burst into tears. "Is there any way you can replicate the weird Enderpearl?" she asked, though she seriously doubted it.

He shook His head. _"I can not recreate magical things that I haven't created,"_ He told her, tone sad at her distress.

Steve was also distressed, a panicked look on his face as he muttered to himself quietly. _"No. No, nonono. She was right. How could a dream be right?!"_

 **Max,** the good All spoke up.

 _How much would you sacrifice to get to the End?_ It was the evil one's turn to speak.

 _ **Does it really matter so much to you?** _ All's Minecrafter form appeared before Max, eyes sorrowful.

Max nodded. "Yes," she said, feeling hopeful.

All looked down to the ground, the pointed to Steve. **_He holds Her eye, the key you need._**

"What?" Max said, looking to Steve. _"Steve, do you have any items you didn't have before?"_

Steve seemed surprised at her question, then began to search himself at her request. He looked even more surprised when he found something: one of those Enderpearls.

"Yes!" Max cheered, her sorrow turning to happiness as Steve placed the item in its slot. A dark void appeared within the area between the blocks, leading down forever though nothing was different underneath. It was dizzying. Wither, with His aversion to nights, didn't look very enthusiastic that they would have to jump through to reach the End.

Steve immediately jumped through before Max could fully take in the sight. Wither insisted on going next, maybe so He wouldn't wimp out once Max was through. That left only the female Minecrafter and All's apperation that still looked sad. "Thank you, All. But I don't understand why you're so sad that you put that in his pocket," Max said, smiling as she made her way to the portal.

It looked like All wasn't going to say anything, so after a moment, Max made to step into the portal when she heard All say: **_That's the problem; I didn't._**

"Wha-?" Max tried to stop her momentum to stop herself from entering the portal before she could get an answer out of All. What did It mean by that? It had to of put the pearl on Steve! How else would it get there?

Max was already leaning too far towards the portal to stop, and she fell into it, watching the world disappear.

 ** _I'm sorry._**

* * *

 **Yes. I do insist on being evil and putting a cliffhanger there. It's the second-last chapter! How could I resist?**

 **Also, Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, and Happy Holidays to those that don't! Consider this chapter my gift to you, whoever you are, random person that for some reason likes this story enough to read this far.**

 **Why do you think All is so sad?**

RIGGBI299:

 **Thank you! And I sure will! Well, until it's done.**

NotReallyAName:

 **Yes! I have succeeded with having a cool name! I don't think they do. Christmas was originally created by Christians to celebrate when they believed to be Christ's birth, and Jesus isn't in Minecraft. Do you mean Ender? She may or may not have been. Remember that Ender has been deleted from existence, but also remember that She practically lived for revenge. It does make sense, I have experienced that many times. "Half-winter" is just a name I came up for Fall/Autumn because there is normally snow anyway. Otherwise I just call it Fall.**


	18. The End

The End was cold. It was also dark. But Steve didn't mind, it actually made him love it more. It was a nice change from the warm and bright Overworld. He almost couldn't believe he had actually made it to the End, his dream having put him on edge.

Wither and Max were not as enthusiastic about the new location. Wither appeared startled, and Max was shouting at nothing in her crazy language of grossness. "All!' she yelled. "Tell! Sorry?!" Needless to say, Steve was pretty sure she was insane.

Steve decided to look around and see what his new home was like, other than dark. He quickly found that they seemed to be floating, but closer scrutiny showed that they were actually standing on an obsidian platform. Not too far away was a large island of yellow stone. Which Steve recognized as Endstone.

The Minecrafter felt a grin grow on his face. The longing had disappeared, he was right where he belonged.

And then a loud roar shook the sky.

Looking up, Steve couldn't see anything. Until two dots of purple appeared in the darkness, right in front of his face. He yelped in surprise, falling back and landing on Max. A wave of hot air blew over them as whatever beast it was breathed, landing on the platform. Another dot appeared, though it couldn't much be called a dot. It was like light at the end of a tunnel, and slightly downward. The light grew, and Max yelled: _"Get down!"_ at him, pushing Steve to the ground. The beast paused at Max's words, but the light from its throat was already beginning to fly from its mouth, aimed directly at Max. Wither leapt in front of her, shielding her from death. He yelled in pain as the glowing acid burned at His flesh, but He stood His ground, refusing to let Max die.

The flow stopped a second later, the beast closing its mouth to cease its attack. Wither stood there, grey skin smoking, but almost completely unharmed in the sense that his flesh was only a bit charred, and He wasn't a pile of sludge and ashes. He started yelling at the beast, His words too quick and angry for Steve to understand.

He only stopped when Max put a hand on His shoulder. "Okay, Wither. Stop," she told Him. He frowned at her, but stepped back. She then turned to the beast. "Know is? _Wither is a_ deadly! Kill _you insufferable creature as black and useless as coal!_ _You're incredibly_ me here! Or death! Dare _to ever attack us again, I won't bother_ you be dead!" she yelled at it, switching between languages. After yelling at the very surprised creature for a few minutes, she stopped, taking a breath. _"Sorry,"_ she apologized to Steve and Wither. _"The dark stresses me out."_

Wither blinked at her. _"Coal? You insulted it with coal?"_

Max frowned at him. _"I just said the dark makes me uncomfortable. So excuse me for being unable to come up with a horrifying insult within a second."_

He held up His hands in surrender, but was grinning mischievously. _"Hey, I'm not blaming you. Coal is a wonderful insult. I don't know how you ever came up with it."_

Max punched Him in the arm. _"Shut up,"_ she told Him, shaking her head in a mix of amusement and exasperation at His antics.

The poor creature with glowy eyes was still bewildered. Steve walked over to it. _"Don't worry,"_ he said. _"I have no idea what's going on, either."_

The beast gave him a startled look, unsure how to react to anything, now.

Light shone from Wither's hand, He having made Max a torch to fend off the dark. She took the torch with a smile of thanks, then traveled over to Steve and the beast, raising the light source to get a better look at it. "Story true," she muttered to herself upon seeing the dragon that stood before her. It was black as the void around them, grey occasionally popping up among its scales. Its eyes were the most colourful thing about it, purple like Ender's had been, but they weren't swirling. Darker purple was used for it's pupils, which were narrowed in confusion.

 _"Stories?"_ Wither asked, and Steve marveled that Wither had been able to understand that Max had been speaking plural. It must have been confusing for the poor God, Steve decided. How annoying it must be to understand two languages, one a much poorer and twisted version of the other.

"Mother, legends, small," Max informed Wither. Steve was getting a headache from listening to her, so he decided to speak up.

 _"Wasn't there a reason you two wanted to come here?"_ he said, if only to make Max stop using that putrid speech.

Max swore at herself for forgetting, but Steve didn't even bother to try and deduce what she said, his headache growing worse. As Steve put a hand to his head to try and ease the pain, Max said something to Wither, who nodded. A path of obsidian appeared, leading from the platform to the island of stone. They walked across, Steve's vision blurring.

The dragon followed them from the sky, just watching. Until something flew across its path, in which case it either ate the flying thing, or shot at it with the same acid it had fired at Wither.

Steve kept his eyes on the creature as best he could, just staring up. A sharp pain would appear behind his eyes whenever he looked ahead at the Endstone that stood out starkly against the black void.

He took another step forwards only to find that nothing was underneath his foot. He yelped in surprise, falling. He continued looking up as he fell down into the darkness of the void, panic filling him. No! No no no no no no! He couldn't die here! He couldn't! He had just made it to the End!

A sharp tug on his foot ceased his decent and caused him to yelp again. Looking down, he saw Max struggling to hold him up with only her one hand wrapped around his foot. Wither's hands appeared on his leg, next, and they carefully pulled him back up, which was when Steve realized he had been confused about up and down. He had been looking down at the void below instead of the black sky above as he had thought.

 _"Watch where you're going,_ " Max snapped at him, apparently still feeling stressed from the never ending dark that surrounded them.

 _"Sorry,"_ Steve muttered his reply, squinting his eyes as pain flared within his skull yet again. Max huffed in annoyance, but seemed to notice his distress as she didn't appear as annoyed as usual.

Finally, they made it to the Endstone island. Steve should've been ecstatic. He would've been ecstatic. But his head hurt too much to let him do anything but focus on the pickaxes digging into his brain. He sat on a pile of Endstone. barely noticing his surroundings. He could hear Max and Wither talking with each other, but he couldn't tell what they were saying. His eyes were screwed tight in pain, his hands on his throbbing head. He didn't want to move at all. He just wanted to stay still as he could feel himself retreating into his mind, and something trying to get it. He couldn't fight it, it hurt too much. And slowly, very slowly, he fell asleep...

The last thing he heard was the woman's voice from his dream.

 _"I told you, Steve._ No one _can escape their fate."_

* * *

"We did it, Wither!" Max cheered, looking around her at the End. Wither was looking around them, disturbed. She noticed. "What's wrong?"

 _"It's... different,"_ Wither replied, seeming perplexed.

"Different from how you imagined it?"

Wither paused, looking like he was trying to figure out how to explain it. _"I just know that nothing here is as it should be. That thing,"_ He nodded at a purple eyeball, _"is neither Ender's creation, nor All's. Its colour is all wonky."_

Max frowned, a bit worried by what He meant. "Monsters of Dimensions..." she remembered. "A Mod."

 _"Mod?"_

"All was rambling a while back about rocks and Mods and something called a Rift or whatever," Max told Him. "It said that Mods weren't something It created."

 _"Is that even possible? All is everything, isn't it?"_ Wither replied, confusion clear. _"How can something not be part of the Universe."_

Max shrugged in response, as confused as her best friend was. "What's the End supposed to be like?" she queried.

 _"There are much less Mobs, for one,"_ Wither began. _"And all these plants aren't supposed to be here."_

Max gazed at the Endstone island, at the lush purple trees and plants and flowers, at the many black and purple Mobs and Mods inhabiting the area, at the swooping structures of weird blocks she didn't have a name for. _"It's supposed to be much flatter, too,"_ He added.

"Well, that's weird and worrying," Max said, beginning to look around for what they had came for. Her eyes fell on a squiggly plant that appeared as though it had been stretched and twisted multiple times. She stared at it, and grinned. Whatever that thing was, it could save her father's life. She walked over to it and knelt down, the Star swinging around her neck as she did so. She pulled the plant from the ground and tucked it into her pocket, ignoring the Star.

Minecrafter and God whipped around when they heard _thump!_ echo around the End, the sound bouncing off the weird Endstone structures. Steve had faceplanted onto the ground, just laying there. He was perfectly still, which was extremely odd for the two friends to see. Everything seemed to freeze. The End got even quieter, the Mobs and Mods stilling. Then Steve began to convulse, his arms and legs lashing out wildly. Max heard a yelp of fear, but had no idea who had been the cause. It could've been her, Wither, a Mod or Mob, Steve, or even All. She had no idea.

Max rushed over to Steve to try and hold him still before he hurt himself, but everything else got there first. Everything but she and the Mods charged at Steve, even Wither took a step forwards, though He seemed to have no idea why. The Enderdragon shot acid at Herobrine's copy. The Endermen screeched in fury and teleported to and around Steve. The Endstone pulled up and around the Minecrafter so he couldn't avoid the attacks even if he were conscious.

There was only one thing that could cause so many things to attack Steve.

 _"All!"_ Max yelled angrily. _"Stop attacking him, this instant!"_

The Mobs didn't stop. Steve was still convulsing in his stone bonds, though this time it seemed to be more in pain. Max ran towards the other Minecrafter, Wither reaching out a hand to grab her, obviously not wanting her to near Steve, but she shoved Him out of the way. She grabbed Kreaya from its sheath and swiped it at the Endermen to make them back off. Kreaya didn't pull itself around like it usually did when Max held it. It stayed dormant until Max was protectively standing over Steve, and then it shot downwards, aiming for his head. Max clutched her sword tight, startled by the sudden move, and just barely stopped it from piercing into Steve's skull. With effort, the Akroatis yanked Kreaya away from Steve, a small dot of blood on his forehead where Kreaya broke the skin.

 _"All,"_ Max hissed in anger. _"Stop. Right. Now."_

All didn't stop trying to kill Steve, the Endermen teleporting just close enough to try and attack Steve, before quickly moving away before Max could retaliate. The Endstone had covered the Minecrafter, restricting all of his movement, while leaving his vulnerable areas such as his neck, head, and stomach open to the Endermen's attacks.

If All didn't stop soon, then Steve was going to die. No doubt about it. He'd either lose too much blood from his many wounds, or he'd be squished to death by the Endstone. So, Max, not knowing what else to do that would help the situation, stabbed herself in the foot with Kreaya. Everything froze at her yelp of pain, and she hissed as she pulled the enchanted sword out of her flesh, its blade dripping with her blood. _"Now that I have your attention,"_ she said angrily, pain not helping her mood, _"if you touch him one more time, I will make You regret_ _it."_

 _Oh, I see you're finally not acting like a wimp, anymore, are you?_ All's mocking voice said. _**  
Max, he needs to die. You don't understan-**_

 _"What don't I understand?!"_ Max roared, furious. All's Minecrafter form appeared to her right, and flinch back at her yell, startled. _"How do I not understand that you're trying to kill him?!"_

 **I'm sorry, Max. But-  
** _The kid's a pansy, anyway. Too bad I'm not letting myself rip his limbs off. **  
**_ _ **That's enough! Max, I have to.**_

 _"Like the Nether you have to!"_ Max screeched.

 ** _Max-  
_** _No! Don't try to calm her down! This is hilarious.  
 **Don't interrupt Me!**  
Why? Is it annoying? Ooh~ Looks like someone's going to explode._

 _"How dare you,"_ Max hissed, infuriated that All was arguing with Itself as It tried to murder. _"How dare you try to take another person's life! You already killed Mom because You felt Ender needed to suffer! You killed the people Ender did! You murdered those the Mobs destroy! Everything is your fault! Everything!" _Max screamed the last word, rage filling her entire body.

 **I-** All said, sounding hurt.  
 _ **Max...**_ All's Minecrafter form looked broken by the Akroatis' words, a tear falling from Its non-existent face.

Max felt sadistic glee at All's mental pain. It made her even more furious. The evil version of All was laughing loudly, insanely, obviously enjoying the torment Max was putting Its suicidal self through. _"Stop it!"_ she yelled, hating the laughter that bubbled through her, hating that All's hatred of Itself was leaking to her, despising that the happiness of not allowing All to ignore the truth was not all from the Universe. _She_ was happy she was hurting It for hurting her, and she was terrified of that. It was revenge that had started this mess. _"Stop it!"_ she roared again, tears of fury trailing their way down her face as she laughed.

Wither said something, but she couldn't hear Him over all the noise, her laughter, All's laughter, Steve's pain, the Mods, the Enderdragon's wings. Everything was so loud! And it hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It _hurt._ She let out another screech, this one having no words to it, just a vocal manifestation of her conflicting emotions and pain. She shut her eyes, trying to block everything else out so she could get a grip on herself. Her fingers pulled at her hair, palm pushed against her ear, her stump uselessly shoved against the other one.

And then, everything went quiet. Except for two words:

 ** _I'm sorry._**

It repeated over and over again, every part of All speaking the apology.

 **I'm sorry.**

Wither's eyes were wide, the words pouring from His lips without His consent.

 _I'm sorry._

Those words were repeated by everything that was able to make noise, except the Mods, who looked on in confusion, and Steve, who was still unconscious.

 ** _I'm sorry._**

 **I'm sorry.**

 _I'm sorry._

It repeated those words, sounding truly remorseful. The Mobs backed off, the Endstone pulled away from Steve, resuming its natural position.

 _"Shut up,"_ Max growled, not in a forgiving move as she quickly knelt to assess the damage to the unconscious Minecrafter. Wither was still bewildered, and so didn't help. Max swore some foul words, Steve was too hurt to be moved. And if Wither teleported them, Steve would simply die in a bed.

Max grit her teeth. "Wither," she said sharply to gain the God's attention. "Does the Star make you Respawn with your wounds?"

 _"Er- No,"_ Wither replied, confused at her question. Why would she ask such a thing? _"Max! No!"_ he shouted when Max ripped the Nether Star chain off her neck and plunged one of the points into Steve's chest.

Max wasn't sure why she was doing this, why she wanted Steve to live so badly. Maybe she was trying to spite All by making the person It was trying to kill, live. Or maybe it was because seeing the usually moving Minecrafter be so still was unnerving. No matter what made her do it, it happened.

Steve began to convulse again, the Nether Star melting into his chest. He opened his mouth in a silent scream of pain, and Wither snatched Max's arm and pulled her away. Max looked at Him with wide eyes. "Why is he screaming?" she asked. Wither had given her the Star, and the Star was the thing causing Steve pain. The Star had been meant for her, which meant the pain must've also been meant for her.

 _"You just stabbed him in the chest. Of course he's screaming."_

"Oh, yeah," Max said, looking away from Him, feeling bad that she had let the thought of her best friend purposely hurt her cross her mind.

Steve was still having a fit, the Nether Star melted completely into his body. Then, he stopped, holding completely still for a few minutes. Then he stood, and went ridge, his eyes closed, wounds still bleeding. A weird noise entered Max's ears, and she winced as it got louder. It seemed to be words she couldn't quite hear.

 **Get out of there.**

"No," Max replied defiantly. She wasn't in the mood to do anything All said.

 _ **Max, you really need to leave.**_

And then Max was punched in the face. She stumbled backwards, holding her nose and yelping in surprise. There was a yelp of pain that she didn't make accompanied by a bright grey light. When she reopened her eyes -having closed them when the light went off-, she was staring at a pile of ash and an angry Wither, who was currently swearing at whatever had punched her, which she guessed was now the ashes. Then, she noticed that Steve was gone.

"Where did Steve go?" Max questioned, irritated.

Wither stopped swearing, blushing with guilt. _"I - ah...erm... That wasn't Steve."_

She glared at Him, but forced herself to not get too mad, as Steve was now...immortal...

Max realized she had just turned someone immortal just to spite the voices inside her head.

Max then realized what Wither had said. "What do you mean that wasn't Steve?"

 _"His colours were wonky; like they were being pushed away from his body,"_ Wither explained. _"Plus, he didn't seem to recognize you before and after he punched you in the face. That wasn't Steve."_

 _Hey, Max! Tell your boyfriend I thank Him for saving your sorry-_

"He's not my boyfriend!" Max almost shouted in frustration, startling Wither.

 _Oh ho ho~ Touchy subject?_

"All, if you don't want me to stab a sword into my ears. I suggest you shut up," Max said coldly, and Wither gave her an alarmed expression. Thankfully, All shut up.

And then Max's foot began to hurt, the full pain of being stabbed finally reaching her brain now that she wasn't so angry. She yelped, and collapsed, Wither catching her. Within a second, they were back at Notch's castle, scaring a servant.

* * *

"Wither, why am I blindfolded?" Max asked irritably as Wither led her up some stairs. She had a cane to walk with for her healing foot, and it kept tapping on the steps. It had been a day or so since their End adventure, and Charlie was recovering. All had wisely not said anything to Max during this time.

Max tripped over some string, but Wither caught her before she could go tumbling.

"Happy late birthday, Max!" she heard a child say. Something wrapped around her stomach and she looked down to see cheerful green eyes curtained by dark hair peering up at her.

"Quirk?"

"Yup!" he said cheerfully, grinning up at her. It had been three years since she had last seen Quirk after finding his father and leaving them together.

"Are you sure?" she questioned. "Quirk is a little boy, and you're so big!"

He beamed at her. "I'm 11, now!" he exclaimed happily. "Dad says I'm growing too fast."

Max laughed. "I'm sure you are!" she said, ruffling his messy hair, him dodging away and laughing. The next thing she knew, Max had cake shoved into her hands. The day progressed joyfully, and it was only while Wither was entertaining Quirk did she realize something:

Max had turned something that wasn't Steve immortal.

* * *

 **3,587 words... I finally made a worthy-to-read chapter. Ah, that feels so good to finally finish this and get the guilt of not updating for a while away. It was last year I updated, after all. (hehe. See what I did there? Hehehe... ignore my attempt at funny.)**

 **But we're finally getting to the finishing plot! Squee! Makes me so happy. So happy that I can't wait until the morning to post this. Heheh. Anyway, this is the final chapter to AMM, which means I'll update it one last time when the next part of the series comes out. I don't have a name for it, just yet, but it'll be in the update.**

 **What happened to Steve? Do you peoples have any idea?**

hope. rose. dawnstar/Dawnstar:

 **A very sneaky person. And you have a good point, but I have a something else to prove your point null but spoilers. Thank you for reviewing! It made me happy! :D**

NotReallyAName:

 **Thank you! And, you may or may not be right. I'm just going to say you got it partly correct. Happy early holidays! (I'm early. I'm not late. Nope. Not late at all.)**

AlliyahTheAuthor:

 **You have absolutely no idea how happy that made me. I applaud you for going back and suffering through my horrid early writing. Thank you so much, that made me smile.**


	19. IT'S HERE

**Heh... So, I may or may not of forgotten to do this. Thank you, NotReallyAName for reminding me (and yes, you were right about that. And yes, Steve was possessd).**

 **Anyway, the next installment is up! It's called "A Minecraft Taker" or "AMT" if you're feeling lazy. I just got the second chapter up, so yay! Reading!**

 **Erm, yeah. Sorry my memory failed me!**


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